Review of Atomic Blonde (2017) by Curt W — 26 Jul 2017

The two directors of John Wick, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch split up this year to make John Wick: Chapter 2 and Atomic Blonde respectively. Understandably, the three films work as an unofficial trilogy quite nicely. If you asked me which one I think is the best, I would have to go with John Wick: Chapter 2, but that doesn't detract from the fun and excitement of Charlize Theron's latest action vehicle. Set in Berlin around the time the wall came down, Theron plays a spy sifting through the espionage of the local cold war, searching for a MacGuffin with and without the help of James McAvoy and Sofia Boutella. There are all sorts of twists concerning who is working for who, but more importantly, there's a bunch of violence, murder, explosions, and one-shot action set pieces. That's what we came here for, and that's what we get. What's more is the neon-noir stylishness mixes well with the 80's techno-pop soundtrack, ranging from George Michael to Ministry without seeming forced. The downside of hearing a (mostly) period specific setlist that I would probably come up with is that it makes the film seem like a music video when there isn't a bunch of brutal violence (and even sometimes when there is). Its a matter of preference, of course. I wasn't expecting to wowed by the plot in the first place, so I didn't mind when certain bits of predictable dialogue got drowned out by "99 Luftballons". It's not the smartest spy movie, it's not the most immaculate period piece, and it's not going to change the face of action films. It is, however, sexy and occasionally very dark. One of the fight scenes occurs behind the screen of a theater projecting Tarkovsky's Stalker, and while I wouldn't even bother to compare the two films, it's nice to watch a movie made by someone you know has good taste...

...even if Stalker premiered ten years prior to the events of this film and was poorly received at the time making it unlikely that such a subversive and criticized film would be showing at ground zero for such a large socio-political upheaval AND the German dubbed version had already premiered in 1982.