Theron shines in new action flick, Atomic Blonde
Theron is slick and stylish, but movie is muddled
Atomic Blonde — a Cold War-era, spy, action movie starring Charlize Theron as an MI6 agent sent on an impossible mission in East Berlin — was made possible by two films: Mad Max: Fury Road and John Wick.
The former gave us Theron’s turn as Furiosa, who immediately became an iconic feminist symbol and proved the actress could handle her own action franchise. The latter, starring Keanu Reeves as a retired, revenge-seeking assassin, revisioned the contemporary action movie to focus a little less on the genre’s hypermasculinity while producing something slick, stylish and imaginative.
Theron makes Atomic Blonde stylish through her sheer presence.
Her ever-changing attire, a white, black and grey wardrobe full of chic trench coats, sexy pantyhose and a variety of kneehigh boots is as on point as her martial-arts skills. But the film, with its gloomy monochromatic colour palette, compilation of 1980s singles and punkish neoncolour spray-paint typography can’t keep up.
While Theron kicks as much ass as her character Lorraine Broughton, Atomic Blonde’s storyline and filmmaking are disappointingly weak.
Broughton is brought in for questioning by her superiors, Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA chief Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman), following her failed mission in East Berlin to recover a confidential list of British intelligence names that, in the wrong hands, could undermine MI6’s operation. Broughton was assigned to work with MI6’s top agent, David Percival (James McAvoy), but the brash, British, bad boy’s antics reveal him to be double-crossing someone and/or everyone, which in the spy genre means more character deceits are afoot.
A good spy thriller, of course, with or without action, weaves its mystery to keep the viewer wondering who’s on who’s side and who’s double-crossing whom, but Atomic Blonde’s muddled plot is too confusing and boring to follow or care about: One agent (Sam Hargrave) close to Broughton is mysteriously killed; she finds assistance in Delphine (Sofia Boutella), a French agent with whom she develops a sexual bond; Broughton also must save a bespectacled MI6 confidante named Spyglass (Eddie Marsan).
These unaided mini-missions make Atomic Blonde feel like a perfunctory video game.
Indeed, the gloomy atmosphere and Theron’s cold, determined demeanour add to a rather joyless experience.
Theron’s presence carries a seriousness that needs to be complemented, not matched, but the film’s tone tries to outsombre the actress, which makes it feel unnecessarily morose. The few fun moments are fleeting: Goodman’s natural warmth adds a wisecracking smirkiness to the interrogation; Theron’s occasional deadpan replies to Jones’ earnest questioning (especially about her sexual proclivities) are entertaining; and oh yes, the centrepiece action scene unfolds with the absurd humour of John Wick (director David Leitch also co-directed that film).
Trying to keep Spyglass safe in East Berlin, Broughton comes up against a relentless string of Stasi hitmen. A ruthless car chase and a cat-and-mouse sweep through a decrepit apartment building finds the Atomic Blonde doggedly taking each one down with guns, knives and finally lamps and other household items, while the injured Spyglass attends to his wound — a comic moment appreciated by the audience, though I was later wondering what was so funny? Was it that a helpless man was helped by an ass-kicking woman?
The gendered dynamics of Atomic Blonde are something we haven’t seen before, and it’s mostly due to Theron’s producing efforts: the role is written as if it were intended for a guy, the lesbian sex scenes normalize the idea that two women can casually have sex with each other, and Theron’s face and body are actually allowed to show the ugly scrapes that accompany fighting. Theron also did 98 per cent of the stunt work on the movie.
These facts shouldn’t be a big deal, yet Theron’s efforts — onscreen and off — to pull off these feats reveals a gendered inequality still at play in Hollywood.
Regardless of its esthetic quality, Atomic Blonde deserves a box-office return that allows similar projects to take off — with hopefully less-contrived results in the future.
Even before Charlize Theron showed up on screen as furious Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, she was developing her Atomic Blonde action persona.
Five years ago, she snapped up the rights to a soon-to-be published graphic novel called The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, which was her action template. Set in Berlin just before the Wall falls, the narrative revolves around operative Lorraine Broughton, who seems to have more enemies than friends as she tries to locate a missing file.
Atomic Blonde, the movie, is a great deal more visual and visceral and combatively intense than the book on which it’s based. And Theron’s Broughton comes across more neo-punk than Cold War efficient as she eliminates her foes with deadly precision to a synthesizer soundtrack from the 1980s.
It’s not like Theron hasn’t immersed herself in the dark side before. She won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. And Furiosa has a take-no-prisoners attitude. But her latest role seems to have a heightened kind of fun in the pursuit of violence.
No doubt Theron knew what she was getting into when she hired David Leitch to direct the film, considering the fight mayhem that occurs regularly in Atomic Blonde. Indeed, it was Leitch and buddy Chad Stahelski who directed the Keanu Reeves as John Wick with assistance from their action production company 87Eleven. Leitch, the former Brad Pitt stuntman, has also been hired to direct Deadpool 2, mostly thanks to his stunt co-ordinating on Captain America: Civil War.
So it’s not a surprise that the 5-foot-10 Theron chose Leitch for the job of realizing her Blonde ambition. The selection also meant the actress spent at least three months before the shoot preparing for her mixed martial arts fight sequences, her gun battles and especially her elaborate stairwell altercation with multiple bad guys. She even sparred with Reeves at the 87Eleven facilities before filming.
The movie is not all about Theron’s Atomic Blonde, though. Toby Jones is her MI6 boss. John Goodman plays a laconic CIA type while James McAvoy appears as a quirky contact. Then there’s Sofia Boutella. She’s an inexperienced French agent who ends up having a steamy dalliance with the headliner.
Meanwhile, the pop music in the film is another elemental attraction. Adorning the stylized sequences are various tunes recalling the ’80s, including Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen, New Order’s Blue Monday and Father Figure by George Michael.
Obviously, though, Theron is at the centre, just like Reeves in John Wick and his most recent sequel last winter. And like Reeves, Theron looks like she’s equal to the demands.
After a successful career as a model, Theron was accustomed to being tested, making the transition into acting with her supporting roles in 1996’s 2 Days in the Valley and That Thing You Do! followed by, among other productions, The Devil’s Advocate (with Reeves) and The Cider House Rules.
Although her Academy Award for Monster changed her industry status, like most in the business she’s had hits and misses since.
North Country earned her another Oscar nomination, but the critics weren’t kind to Snow White and the Huntsman nor its sequel, nor to A Million Ways to Die in the West. She recovered with the aforementioned Fury Road and this year’s The Fate of the Furious.
Now, she’s showing off more than just her acting chops and single-minded determination with the Atomic Blonde portrayal.
“She has exceptional athletic ability,” Leitch says of his star.
That fact had already been confirmed by George Miller, who directed her in the Mad Max reboot.
“As a former ballerina, Charlize brings all that physicality and a special awareness and discipline and sense of valuation through gestures,” Miller says. “Charlize is a very strong personality and has a spirit about her.”
Among other things, the actress credits her South African upbringing for her focus and resilience when the going gets rough on any set.
“There is a toughness to South Africans and a pick-yourselfup-by-the-bootstraps philosophy that’s very South African,” Theron says, “So that always helps me.”