Atomic Blonde Review

     Atomic Blonde is the newest film from David Lietch, the co-director of John Wick and soon to be helmer of Deadpool 2. We're still well in the heat of summer blockbuster season and this movie was certainly marketed as a fast paced, action film in which many people commented on it being the female version of John Wick. While this movie has John Wick-esque elements and spectacular work from Charlize Theron, the film ultimately is underwhelming due to a draining story that is quite frankly a mess.

     Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) plays an undercover MI6 agent that is sent to Berlin in order to obtain a lost list of agents, as well as uncover the murder of another agent. Along the way, she will quickly discover that everyone around her is working on their own agenda.
     The biggest M.V.P. of this movie is Charlize Theron hands own. The marketing for this film heavily focused on the action and Theron kicks so much butt in the scenes that require action. Audiences will definitely be able to identify the work she has put in to these scenes and the fight choreography she is given is fantastic. There's a particular scene that involves a stairway that might be one of the best directed scenes of the year. Unfortunately the movie falls apart significantly in other areas.
     There are not quite as many action sequences as the marketing suggests. This movie relies heavily on its story. That's not a problem for me, however the story is all over the place. It's the same stereotypes that we always see in spy movies and quite confusing at times. This film attempts to bite more then it can chew and drags on unnecessarily. The motives of particular characters, without getting into spoilers, just did not make sense and was inconsistent throughout the movie.

     The soundtrack for this movie is good but it often feels forced at times. This movie takes place in 1980's in the last fews days of the Cold War and plays a lot of great 80's jam. Unfortunately, the placement of the songs makes it feel much like Suicide Squad where it is just put in and feels very quick cut, music video like. They try to stuff a lot of songs in this movie and it's often overbearing.
     Maybe it was because I had different expectations going into this film but ultimately Atomic Blonde was a disappointment for me. Although Theron carries this movie, it's not enough to cancel out its wearing storyline. You can definitely wait for the Blu Ray release of this movie.

Rating: 4.8 out of 10