![]() ![]() Boutella was such a dazzling action presence in Star Trek Beyond and Kingsmen that it feels as though she deserved at least one more good fight in Atomic Blonde. He doesn’t get quite as many fight scenes as Theron, but the punches and kicks he does throw-particularly in an opening chase-show he hasn’t let his Wanted training go to waste. Often seen in ugly v-neck sweaters, oversized sunglasses, and a trashy fur-collared coat, McAvoy puts his effortless charisma to nasty use as Percival. While this is clearly Theron’s show, McAvoy deserves notice for turning in another one of his splendid dirtbag characters. And Theron-who is rapidly becoming our finest action star-threw herself into the part so thoroughly that she apparently cracked some teeth while training to flatten all of Berlin. Unlike some fictional female spies who glide through their dangerous missions without mussing their hair, Broughton is a brawler. Thanks to a stunning opening sequence where Theron exposes brutal cuts and bruises on every inch of her body, audiences may cringe at the nasty hits she takes. In one particularly dazzling long take-which takes Broughton down a long flight of stairs, into the street, and through a violent car chase-Theron is clearly doing at least some of her own stunts, both dishing out and taking the kind of beatings you don’t often see female spies endure. (An approach that might seem familiar to fans of John Wick 2.) The story’s erratic ups and downs would be more of a negative if the dazzling action scenes didn’t make every leap in logic feel worth it.Īnd if those legs were only employed for seductive purposes, the camera might seem to be leering. The story merely serves as a way to bring Broughton and Percival into one show-stopping fight after another. The many, many backstabbing twists and turns of Atomic Blonde’s plot are almost irrelevant to audience enjoyment. Meanwhile, she’s also being pursued by a mysterious French spy ( Sofia Boutella) and a never-ending stream of German and Russian agents intent on taking her down. Broughton is instructed to work with Berlin MI-6 station chief David Percival ( James McAvoy), who has adapted maybe a bit too well to the black-market-driven streets of the crumbling city. There’s also a dangerous double agent on the loose. ![]() Her original mission puts the film in familiar spy territory: there’s a list with the names of British and American spies on it that’s in danger of falling into the wrong hands. The story of her trip there unspools in flashback as a badly beat-up Broughton is questioned several days later by agents from both MI-6 ( Toby Jones) and the C.I.A. All other summer blockbusters should just surrender now.Ītomic Blonde-an adaptation of the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City-sees Theron’s MI-6 agent Broughton sent to Berlin in 1989, on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The film had a triumphant, ecstatic debut at SXSW on Sunday night, but won’t debut in the U.S. She’s the captivating eye of a rather messy plot storm, and you won’t be able to keep your eyes off her for a second. In Atomic Blonde, her Cold War-era spy character, Lorraine Broughton, brutally dispatches Russian and German agents without ever losing an inch of style. Now Theron has done it again-this time, with a platinum-blond crop, a high popped collar, and miles of lethal, stiletto-clad legs. ![]() In Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron created an instant icon with Furiosa’s shaved head, smear of black paint, and ferocious screams. ![]()
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