August 3, 2017 1 min to read

Atomic Blonde

Stylish fight scenes, and Charlize Theron dressed in scantily clad outfits. Check and check.

by Zach Saul

Atomic Blonde is what is; an unapologetic action movie that doesn’t really care if you like the characters or the plot because it knows you bought a ticket for two reasons: stylish fight scenes, and to see Charlize Theron in scantily clad outfits. Check and check. Gucci and Versacci must have put all their best designers on this production because it just about every scene Charlize, and her costars were dressed in a different outfit that looked to be from the spring line. In stretches, Atomic Blonde is really fun - with a hip 80s soundtrack, cool camera shots and some truly badass fight scenes. But in the other stretches, the ones where it forces you to confront it’s plot and characters (or lack thereof) it really flounders. Charlize Theron’s nipples appear frequently and act as an effective tool to recapture even the most disengaged viewers’ attention.

The Good: The fight scene from the trailer in which Charlize jumps from off a railing while attached to a rope to “whip” her victim is a legitimately unique and cool stunt. The movie is filled with well executed fight scenes, and realistic stunts. Also Charlize Theron looks really f*** cool in pretty much every frame of this movie and in parts the stylized camerawork works very well.

The Bad: The plot and characters really didn’t do enough in this movie for my taste. I realize in action thrillers one shouldn’t expect the character development you’d find in an indie drama, but Atomic Blonde left the viewer nothing on the bone. There’s talent on the cast between John Goodman, Charlize Theron and others to have done more with these characters, and it’s a shame they weren’t utilized.