SILVER TONGUED SILVER SCREEN: ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)

Director David Leitch is primarily known in the film world for his stunt doubling and action set designs. He was a second unit director on many of my favorite action movies from the last decade including NINJA ASSASSIN, THE MECHANIC, PARKER, and most recently CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. It's cred like this that makes me take notice when the man steps into full fledged directing. He directed a few of the scenes in the first JOHN WICK and has now moved to directing entire movies himself. Oh yeah, and he's directing the much anticipated DEADPOOL 2 coming next year. He's worth taking notice.

ATOMIC BLONDE marks director David Leitch's first big movie all on his own. I'm a big fan of action films and always looking for the next great adrenaline rush of cinema. With a team like David Leitch, Charlize Theron (looking to top her Furiosa from MAD MAX: FURY ROAD), and Sofia Boutella (having done a great job in KINGSMAN and STAR TREK: BEYOND) I was really stoked for Atomic Blonde. That and the trailers looked awesome! I was sold when the first trailers dropped about four months ago. So naturally this movie was high on my must see list.

Oh yeah, and the movie is an adaptation of Antony Johnston and Sam Hart's graphic novel THE COLDEST CITY. A comic book based movie you say? Could this look any more promising?

THE PLOT

1989 Berlin, days before the fall of the Berlin Wall. MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton has just returned from a disastrous mission in which many agents lost their lives and the entire network of secret agents was nearly exposed. Lorraine's superiors are grilling her about what happened. What follows is a twisted tale of death and deceit and the pursuit of a double agent. But the story being told and what really happened are two different things altogether.

WHAT I LIKED

The Action. If there is one aspect of this film that I better come away with enjoying it's the action. And yes, the action is all that I dreamed it would be. It's intense, hard-hitting, and pretty damn raw. Like the John Wicks the action sequences of Atomic Blonde are primarily one continuous shot and a nice steady camera so you can see all its brutality. I think I can safely safe it's some of the toughest looking fight scenes I've seen in a long time. Perhaps even topping the John Wicks and nearing THE RAID caliber.

The Look and Soundtrack. The neon lights that so brilliantly colored the trailers are both gorgeous and stylish giving the movie a wicked cool appearance. The night sequences are colored almost exclusively in neon while the day sequences have a cold and drab realism to them providing a great contrast. And then there's the soundtrack. I am an 80's music lover and this soundtrack played right on my heartstrings. David Bowie, Til Tuesday, George Michael, A Flock of Seagulls, After the Fire, the Clash, and more. It reminds of the great soundtracks from my youth like The Wedding Singer and Grosse Pointe Blank. Simply wonderful.

And Charlize was awesome too. Definitely.

NITPICKS

Pacing and Intrigue. This film is a spy thriller in the traditional sense... I guess. By that I mean it's not as streamlined as most summer films today. There used to be a time when the majority of films were slower and made you the audience earn the big payoffs. This film has similar pacing and I'm okay with that. There's a lot of talking in this film. A lot. Or maybe it just seemed like a lot because I was expecting balls to the wall action the whole time, kinda like what the trailers for this film looked like.

But the talking just isn't as engaging or intriguing as it could've been. There's a scene of talking which cuts to another scene of talking that doesn't really add a whole lot to the movement of the plot or establish interest in the story. And then it happens again. And again. The story is kinda boring at points and sadly, if you've watched the trailers, most of the action sequences were given away. It's a good story but it wasn't structured well. Or maybe that's just my super-streamlined current filmmaking conditioning talking (thank you, Guardians of the Galaxy?).

Seriously though, with a name like Atomic Blonde, this film should've been more explosive than it was.

THE VERDICT

Charlize Theron displays her inner Furiosa yet again and it is awesome! The action sequences are a sight to behold and some of the hardest hitting I've seen in a while. A wicked awesome soundtrack and flashy appearance give this film an unparalleled cosmetic appeal. Sadly, what should be a captivating story of mystery and intrigue, spy vs spy, falls a little flat with an excess of uninteresting exposition. In the end though, if you can handle a slower paced movie, Atomic Blonde is a damn good time. I'd recommend reading a synopsis as opposed to watching the trailer as the trailer may be a bit misleading.

Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10

Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10

Again, the trailer sells a different movie than what you're getting and gives away a lot of the great action sequences. You're better off going in cold to this movie.