Move over Wonder Woman. There’s a new girl in town. With Atomic Blonde, director David Leitch delivers a reinvented Cold War Mata Hari femme fatale in the guise of Lorraine Broughton, played by the indomitable
Charlize Theron. Think Furiosa of Mad Max meets Professor X during 1989 Berlin fall of the wall a la John le Carré with an Ian Fleming twist.
Hollywood insiders have affectionately retitled Atomic Blonde “Jane Wick”.
Rightly so. Reflecting the dawn of female empowerment themes in film of late, Atomic Blonde goes nuclear. Watch out Jennifer Lawrence! Katniss pales in the spycrafty shadows of Theron’s warrior woman.
James McAvoy’s earnest lethal duplicity as Perceval almost upstages the goddess voluptuousness of Lorraine’s internecine, whirling-dervish death rage. The restyled 80’s faux-couture costume designs unleash Theron dressed to kill. Coco Channel would approve and applaud the fashion sensibility of this lethal weapon in heels.
Sultry Sofia Boutella as Delphine pays a plaintive paramour and counterpoint to the ruthless spy who loved her. Solid supporting casting, including a minor role by John Goodman, makes for a commendable gender-bender homage to a film genre by, about and once upon a Hollywood FOR men.
Filmed on location in Berlin and movie-making mecca Budapest, where post-Cold War angst remains palpable and very much part of the collective consciousness, Atomic Blonde presents a convincing cautionary tale: past IS prologue. Patriot games prove to be ever a stalemate. The smart move is not to play.
The real star of Atomic Blonde is the raucously delicious never-ending soundtrack of 80’s Euro Tech Noir/Synth Pop, avant guard London punk. David Bowie, The Clash, George Michael, Nena, After the Fire, Re-Flex,
Siouxsie and the Banshees and “Til Tuesday blast throughout.
A really righteous reel.
The frenzied frenetic pace of action-figure heroine gone wild, colorful-metaphor verbal reaction, graphic violence, and girl-on-girl action make for a hard R rating.
Leave the kids.
Take a date.
Sit back and find out what it means to fight like a girl.
