What should I have expected from the director of John Wick? Well, I expected John Wick, but Atomic Blonde is not that. This is the James Bond gender swap we’ve all been waiting for. So why am I disappointed?
The hair is great, clothing is sleek, and Theron is phenomenal in acting and action, but that’s it. This is a movie about a woman, written by and for men. Then again, aren’t most films in Hollywood? It’s an issue I’ve become used to. But sometimes male driven storytelling takes precedence over character development and plot flow. This can become overwhelming when men add their masculine idiosyncrasies to their writing, which make me wonder if they know any women at all.
Related: Director David Leitch hopes Atomic Blonde provides more opportunities for female action stars
Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston, the film follows British intelligence agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) who bulldozes her way through Berlin in 1989. When she touches down on German soil, she meets fellow agent James Percival (James McAvoy) who knows the ins and outs of East and West Berlin. At the height of the Cold War, it’s a race against the clock to retrieve a top-secret list of names that, if in the wrong hands, could get a lot of operatives killed. She is hunted by the KGB, the CIA, and French intelligence rookie Delphine LaSalle (Sofia Boutella). But Lorraine didn’t come to play. She’s an efficient killer, with hand to hand fighting and shooting skills that lay waste to men double her size.
Adapted to screen by Kurt Johnstad, you can tell he wanted to create a female version of James Bond. Lorraine Broughton is almost a Bond carbon copy. She works for MI6, comes with her own “Atomic Blonde Girl,” damsel, and even has her drink of choice (Stoli Vodka, on the rocks). She isn’t objectified either. Sure, Lorraine spends half the movie naked or half naked, but it isn’t hyper sexualized.
And there is no better actress qualified to be Hollywood’s next action hero than Charlize Theron. There is a lot of behind the scenes footage of Atomic Blonde that features Theron in fight training. She’s worked with some of the same stunt folks from John Wick, and while her fighting style doesn’t have the finesse of Wick, she has fierce determination with power and conviction behind every hit. Trust me, Charlize is badass. However, the same can’t be said for the discombobulated plot.
Lorraine is on a mission from her majesty’s secret service because that’s her job, but I never got the sense of who Lorraine Broughton really is. All the other characters are thinly written, which is pretty obvious when none of their motivations become clear. James Percival is the only character with a well-grounded story arc. There are also some pacing problems as the movie isn’t the action-packed romp the trailers makes you believe it is. It includes a lot of unnecessary exposition that bores the hell out of me because it doesn’t elevate the plot in any way.
The other issues lie in the representation of queer characters. The sex scene between Lorraine and Delphine is so outside the realm of reality, it’s uncomfortable to watch. It’s saturated in male gaze. Is there no one who they could have consulted on this? I don’t know any lesbian couples who have sex like that.
And Sofia Boutella is criminally underused. She’s is on display for T&A, just like every other Bond girl in existence. I guess I could have gotten over that if she had not been disposed of in such a repugnant manner.
Director David Leitch creates a gorgeous looking film that’s an assault on the senses. Red, blues, neons, giving it that neo-noir look comparable to a Nicolas Winding-Refn movie. Now, I am a big ’80s music fan, and looked forward to hearing some of my favorite songs from that era, but after an hour of getting my ears blown, the music becomes cacophonous. The audience never gets a rest from the noise. I get it, the soundtrack contains some great nostalgic hits, but it feels like an over-reliance on sound and aesthetics to hide how inept the plot is.
What sets Charlize Theron above so many other actresses — especially women in action — is she isn’t afraid to look like someone who just got her ass beat. I love the work she put into this performance and that she isn’t afraid to take risks. With a great stunt team working on the film, it has some of the best fight scenes I have seen in years. But I like a good story as well, and Atomic Blonde needs work. In the future, one can only hope Theron chooses to produce edgy action material written by women. It’s not that I’m looking for action heroines to be feminine. I am looking for characters to be based in some reality.
Rating: C
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