Atomic Blonde
Published 2018-02-10
Film info
- Title Atomic Blonde
- Director David Leitch
- Year 2017
- Run time 1hr 55m
- Genres Action, Thriller
- Tagline Talents can be overrated
- Cast Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Toby Jones
MI6’s most lethal assassin and the crown jewel of her Majesty's secret intelligence service, Lorraine Broughton is sent on a covert mission into Cold War Berlin. She must use all of the spycraft, sensuality and savagery she has to stay alive in the ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors. Broughton must navigate her way through a deadly game of spies to recover a priceless dossier while fighting ferocious killers along the way in this breakneck action-thriller..
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 3:28 | That's one hell of an ice bath. |
| 5:54 | Loving the eighties music. |
| 9:24 | Great debrief. "Berlin. F*****k." |
| 12:18 | Native. Feral. These are just words for ROGUE. |
| 16:00 | Zentral Flughafen. Love it. |
| 17:57 | "Don't shoot, I've got your shoe." |
| 32:56 | Curious why he has a hose pipe in his flat, but still, epic fight prop. |
| 35:42 | "Saving the world is cool and all that but my main objective is staying alive." |
| 40:16 | Hoffman shoutout! |
| 42:55 | Lorraine does good coat. |
| 53:25 | That's a new euphemism for it. Made contact. |
| 1:09:55 | She's awesome. Great umbrella tactic. |
| 1:16:18 | Love how unconventional all the fighting is. |
| 1:33:47 | Is Luftballons the only German song they have rights to? |
| 1:41:44 | "You'll start the next decade well rested." I wish! |
Thoughts
This was a refreshing take on the spy genre films, firstly because of the awesome setting - eighties music over a shot of grim eighties cars in a soon-to-be-reunited Germany? That's already fascinating. But also because the unique take on the spy character that Charlize portrayed - firstly being half the size of most of her assailants, she had to use ingenuity and a lot of the props around her as weapons, which added to the drama. And then also because she so clearly showed injuries. Starting a film in an ice bath with so many bruises is like the complete opposite of James Bond.
I'll confess to getting a bit confused at the end. Double crossing upon double crossing is too much for my brain, but I followed most of it and really enjoyed it. She was awesome, and the fresh take on the genre was really uplifting.
Rating: 4 / 5