Atomic Blonde - Great action make up for convolution

Charlize Theron is a Hollywood treasure. Genuinely talented as an actress, glamorous both on screen and off, intelligent and committed to her craft. She is so good at what she does that, even when she's in a bad movie, she can make said bad movie tolerable. Case in point: "Snow White & The Huntsman". Although, her best performance by far has to be in "Mad Max: Fury Road". As she not only successfully carried the whole movie but she did so almost entirely with her commanding presence. You can tell what her character was feeling and thinking just by looking at her expressions. The mark of a true talent if ever I've seen one. So, you'll understand me when I say that her performance in "Atomic Blonde" is almost the ONLY thing in that movie that was worth my time and was worth remembering. Because, had it not been for Charlize Theron, this movie would have been a bigger disappointment than it already is. 

"Atomic Blonde" is a film based upon the British graphic novel "The Coldest City" written by Anthony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart. Taking place during the tail end of the Cold War just days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the story tells of a top notch S.A.S agent named Lorraine Broughton (played by Charlize Theron), who is sent to Berlin to track down and recover a Mcguffin known as The List. A microfilm containing the identities of undercover agents all over the world. While on assignment Lorraine meets up with her contact named David Percival (played by James McAvoy) who helps her navigate Berlin's underground network of criminals and other spies. Along the way she forms a relationship with a young and up-in-coming agent named Delphine (played by Sophia Boutella) all the while engaging in some of the best choreographed and staged fight scenes put to film. 

It is worth noting that Charlize Theron put in so much effort and commitment to the action and fight scenes that, not only did she punish her own body in months of training and practicing, she even chipped two of her own teeth while shooting a scene. That's commitment. 

Now, the thing about this movie that makes it so dissipating to me is that it's yet another case of Hollywood making progress but seemingly trying to deliberately hold said progress back for no reason other than they're afraid of change and want to discourage it from ever happening. In this case, here we have an action oriented espionage thriller lead by a woman, which is more rare than you might think, that is bogged down by a less-than-stellar script and bad creative choices everywhere else. Namely the color palette. 

First, the script: 

The film chooses to use the overused cliche of having our main character being interrogated about the events that the film is about much like the narrative style utilized in "The Usual Suspects". Except in that movie, both the story being told and the interrogation scenes were well defined and equally invigorating. Whereas with "Atomic Blonde" it's treated with a heavy dose of "I'm cool and totally serious so take me seriously, okay" vibe that just reeks of a lack of confidence and competence. The screenwriters seemed to be under the impression that pretending to look cool is equal to actually being cool. It also doesn't help that the script has mistake being convoluted for complex. The movie constantly goes through twist after twist and loop hole and back stabbing that it becomes more and more difficult to remember who is who, what they're doing and why. Not at all helped by the fact that all the characters, except for Theron obviously, are very difficult to distinguish between. Which leads me to the next main issue with this movie. 

Second, the color palette: 

The graphic novel this film was based upon is printed in black and white. A common artistic choice for independent comics. Now, when adapting a graphic novel in this style, filmmakers often have to choose between shooting the film in black and white or just shooting in a normal color style. The filmmakers behind "Atomic Blonde" appear to have attempted a middle ground compromise. As such the whole film is filled to the brim with layers upon layers of dull grey tones occasionally spiced up by muted neon color lights. As such it makes the film simply bland thus boring to look it. So much so that I'm pretty sure it made me almost fall asleep once or twice. 

The good news however is that all of this is fairly easy to put up with thanks in large part to Theron's top notch performance and her stunning action fight scenes. All of which are exhilarating and brutal. This film was directed by David Leitch. A stunt coordinator who previously co-directed "John Wick". If you have not seen that movie, please do so. It's really good. As such the action scenes are staged and shot with precision and the utmost clarity. There is never any of that obnoxious shaky cam or rapid fire editing found is most action movies today. This movie presents its action with the proper execution normally found in old fashioned Kung-Fu movies. They are, without a doubt, the best part of the movie. Especially the final fight scene which takes place all in one long take. 

Sadly, despite these parts of the film being some of the best I've seen so far, and being lead by a great leading lady, this movie fails to deliver a compelling narrative. Which is very annoying because there is no reason a movie like this should not have one. A move can be a brutal action fest and still have a compelling story. You just need to take the time and effort to do so. 

The only reason I would recommend seeing this movie is for Theron and her commitment to the perfection of her role. Do not see this movie for the story because it will probably bore you. At the very lease, if we give this movie enough of our money, it will convince Hollywood to put more women in lead role in these kind of action movies. Which is something we really, really need more of. 

Ladies & Gentleman, I am TheNorm, telling you when Hollywood gets things wrong and when they get things right. Thank you for reading.