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Monday, March 24, 2025
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HOLLYWOOD ATOMIC BLONDE
EDITOR'S PICK
'Atomic Blonde': Stylishly mounted but twisted (Review By
Troy Ribeiro, **1/2
)
"Atomic Blonde" is an action-packed, stylishly mounted but twisty spy thriller,
based on Antony Johnston and Sam Hart's 2012 released graphic novel called "The
Coldest City".
Set in 1989, just prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, tensions run high
amongst the intelligence agencies in the Soviet Union, Germany, England and the
US. On the eve of the wall collapse, a British Agent working for MI6, James
Gasciogne, is killed and a McGuffin list containing the names of all the spies
is stolen.
Ten days later, Lorraine Broughton (Theron) an undercover agent also working for
MI6, who was assigned to retrieve the list and assassinate the traitor who is
killing British agents in East Germany, is brought to London and interrogated by
her superior Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA Agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman)
about her mission to Berlin. When we first meet her, she is emerging battered
and bruised from an ice bath. Her muscular body writhes and contorts, suggesting
she is a tough woman who can handle any situation.
Loraine recalls that her investigations lead her to several connections namely;
her local contact - a wild woolly character called David Percival (James McAvoy)
who is a black market kingpin and a popular guy in East Germany, one of David's
associate - a East German Security officer code named Spyglass (Eddie Marsan)
who has the memorised the secret files and now wants to escape to West Germany
and a naive French intelligence agent Delphine Lassalle (Sofia Boutella) who
gets intimately close to Lorraine.
While the film starts off smoothly, the plot in the second act feels bogged down
with complicated twists and turns that are perfunctorily staged with high octane
action sequences. These sequences are astutely choreographed and appealing but
they do not add anything concrete to the storytelling.
So on the face of it, "Atomic Blonde" is more of an interrogation film, rather
than an espionage thriller and thus with Lorraine revealing the turn of events,
the plot gets predictable and thus loses its spark.
But what keeps you mesmerised are cinematographer Jonathan Sela's fine camera
work and editor Elisabet Ronaldsdottir's razor fine edits. Sela's frames have a
distinguished monochromatic palette with mood lighting.
The most impressive aspect throughout the film is the way the camera is used
during intense moments. There are few occasions when you feel you are watching
the scene in a continuous take and makes you grab the edge of your seat. This is
especially evident when Lorraine is fighting a series of hitmen in and around
the staircase of an apartment building in her bid to save and shepherd Eddie
Marsan across the border.
Charlie Theron in the eponymous role as the enigmatic, stone-cold assassin,
Lorraine is agile and magnetic. Smoking and brooding, she poses like a model and
pummels her opponents like a martial arts expert.
James McAvoy as the cheeky David Percival is charming, so is Sofia Boutella, but
they fail to lift the film's spirit. John Goodman and Toby Jones in limited
roles as investigators are wasted. Eddie Marsan as Spyglass is simply intriguing
and natural.
Overall, the film, with an excellent sound track that gives the adrenaline boost
to the narrative is rugged and stylish.
