Ice queen spy gets her kicks with MI6
Atomic Blonde (Cert 15; 115mins)
CHARLIZE THERON is part Jason Bourne, part Modesty Blaise in Atomic Blonde, a brutal, trashy Cold War thriller. An inscrutable, ice-cool Theron plays MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton who could just as easily be a cunning double agent. Is she really working for the Stasi or the KGB? Anything is possible in a world poised for momentous change with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Atomic Blonde is set in 1989 so there is a cracking soundtrack, packed to the hilt with 1980s hits from George Michael’s Father Figure to Nena’s 99 Red Balloons. But the plot feels pointlessly convoluted and the relentless violence tends towards the sickening which drains a lot of the fun from what could have been an enjoyable spy yarn.
Covered in bruises and regrets, our Lorraine returns to London after the spectacular failure of her Berlin mission to retrieve a list of double agents held by Spyglass (Eddie Marsan).
She is now facing a debriefing by MI6 boss Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA bigwig Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman). Her interrogation transforms the whole film into one lengthy flashback.
Britain’s man in Berlin is swashbuckling chancer David Percival (James McAvoy) who is supposed to offer her all the help he can provide.
But naturally everyone in Berlin wants the same information as Lorraine and soon she is being followed, chased, sadistically beaten by KGB agent Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Møller) and steamily seduced by French agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella). “So you made contact with the French operative?” demands her London boss who doesn’t know the half of it.
Just as well Lorraine seems to have access to a small arsenal of weapons and to have packed a suitcase of kinky boots, fishnets, suspenders and slinky underwear for every occasion. Did she watch The Avengers as a child and fashion herself on Emma Peel and Purdy?
Atomic Blonde is not to be taken seriously and only feels completely successful during the many energetically choreographed hand-to-hand combat scenes in which a ferocious Theron turns everything into a weapon, including a set of keys delivered straight into a bad guy’s face. This is one of those films where people are savagely beaten to within an inch of their lives but stoically return to the fray the next day with little more than a twinge of back pain and a few bruises. If only life was so simple.
The constant suggestion of cross and double-cross becomes a little wearing as the film heads to the two-hour mark and we never really care about the characters or feel they do more than strike the coolest of poses and the fiercest of blows.
McAvoy works hard to inject some life into Percival and Theron does a mean ice queen act but neither feels like a three-dimensional character.
Maybe that’s too much to expect from a film that feels true to its graphic novel roots but does little more than leave you feeling shaken,
stirred and that there is no need for a sequel.
ANNAbelle: CReATIoN
(Cert 15; 109mins)
IT may take its own sweet time getting there but Annabelle: Creation eventually proves its mettle as a relatively traditional, full-bloodied scary movie. The latest prequel to The Conjuring reveals the history of the demonically possessed doll, rooting her past in family tragedy.
Twelve years after the death of their daughter, dollmaker Sam Mullins (a muted Anthony LaPaglia) and his bedridden wife Esther (Miranda Otto) open their sprawling farmhouse to a group of girls from a Catholic orphanage. Best friends Janice (Talitha Bateman) and Linda (Lulu Wilson) are foolishly attracted to a locked room that they are expressly forbidden to enter. Before long, lights flicker, objects move of their own accord and shadowy figures jump out from the dark.
The screenplay is far from inspired and the story doesn’t make a great deal of sense but director David F Sandberg knows all the tricks and delivers enough jolts to ensure the horror franchise keeps making money.
PAwN SACRIfICe
(Cert 12; 112mins)
IN 1972 volatile American chess champion Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) arrived in Reykjavik to play implacable Russian master Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) in what was billed as the Match Of The Century. It wasn’t just personal glory at stake but national pride as the Cold War raged and America wanted one more way to display its superiority.
The absorbing, handsomely crafted Pawn Sacrifice makes the 21-game match the focus of the story. It also examines Fischer’s early life to determine what made him such an unpredictable figure and so single-minded in his dedication to chess.
Maguire’s angry, unreasonable Fischer grows increasingly paranoid, demanding the games take place in a tiny basement room away from cameras, spouting anti-Semitic theories and tearing apart his room in search of bugging devices.
Given the way his behaviour unsettles his opponent, you wonder if there was some method to his madness.
NAPPING PRINCeSS
(Cert PG; 111mins)
DRAB reality and comforting fantasy merge in this warm-hearted animation from Japan. Schoolgirl Kokone should be preparing for exams but has a fondness for sleeping.
In her dreams she is changed into Ancien, a brave princess in the kingdom of Heartland.
When her father is arrested prior to the Tokyo Olympics, she is faced with battles to fight in the real world. Not entirely coherent, Napping is still visually striking with some outstanding action sequences.