Mr. Movie review: ‘Atomic Blonde’ explodes on the screen

‘Atomic Blonde’ is billed as a kind of female version of James Bond. That’s because Charlize Theron’s Lorraine Broughton is an MI6 agent. Other than that, the connection is thin. James Bond hasn’t been close to this creative or close to as much fun since Goldfinger in 1964.

At that I’ll backtrack. The movie also isn’t all that good. The sound is horribly recorded. It’s often hard to understand the dialogue and accents that are as thick in spots as the real Berlin Wall featured in the film. Plus, screenwriter Kurt Johnstad of the two 300 movies makes you slog through a plot that — outside of a bunch of right-on action sequences — plods rather than projects.

‘Atomic Blonde’ is based on — what flick of this genre these days isn’t? — the graphic novel The Coldest City. It’s set in Cold War mere days before the collapse of East Germany and the tearing down of the famed Berlin Wall. Theron’s Broughton is assigned to find a guy nicknamed Spyglass and bring him West. Spyglass has a list of the names of agents that everyone wants.

While in Berlin she connects with James McAvoy’s (X-Men’s Professor X) Percival. He’s a nasty fellow in charge of the city’s spy bureau assigned to help her accomplish the goal.

What moves Atomic Blonde forward, and one of two things that make it fun is director David Leitch’s use of mid-to-late 1980s music from David Bowie, Queen, David Bowie and Queen together, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and other greats from the era. The music is brilliantly spliced into the film, drives it and helps transport you to 1989 Berlin.

It’s the best use of 1980s music since — well — the 1980s.

The second thing that makes Atomic Blonde creative and fun is Theron. Her last action outing was Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015 and she nailed the part. Atomic Blonde gives her an even better shot at showing her chops. The lady is in incredible shape and sells action sequences that are better than any — other than John Wick — that I’ve seen in a movie in decades.

That makes sense. Leitch directed the action sequences in John Wick. He’s the best. Theron tussles with stunt men who tower over her and many who outweigh her by 50 or more pounds. She’s hit, beaten, shot at and slammed against walls in realistic scenes that have you gasping for breath. Leitch and Theron make believe the lady can truly kick butt and her action sequences and the fabulous soundtrack give the film its power and movement.

Too bad the rest of Leitch’s movie doesn’t have the same energy.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘Atomic Blonde’ explodes on the screen."