Atomic Blonde

In the first half it is excessively stylized with randomly used "Best of 80´s soundtrack", while the second half is often without any music and is raw to the bone in a style of Greengrass´ Bourne (and this approach suits the movie much better). On top of that, the screenwriter pretends that it is a serious espionage genre movie almost like Carry with somehow tangled double identities. However, he is not very good at it and it is clear from the very beginning what´s going on and who is the mysterious one who is playing everyone. A rather trivial story is told in an unnecessarily complicated manner. But at least it's not a stupid story. What it relies on is, as expected, mainly all an excellent choreography that results in brilliant physical and stunned action (fortunately it´s not non-stop, but reasonably dosed) with the impressively cool Charlize. You can't deny the movie has its own face, it's definitely not just the proclaimed "Jane Wick". Only that face should have had too much makeup throughout the footage as at the beginning or should have been completely without it as at the end. (10/08/2017)

Anyone expecting a female version of John Wick will be disappointed. Charlize Theron is not a macho good guy seeking revenge for the death of his dog and his burned-down house, she's a cunning and unpredictable bitch, defined by looks and arrogant one-liners rather than emotions. This corresponds to the different concept of the film that David Leitch created. The essence of the story is a modern spy game of cat and mouse, where no one knows who, where, how and with whom until the last moment. But the unnecessarily convoluted screenplay interferes a bit with the otherwise sensational impression of tangible action, which, I dare to say, is hardly rivaled in its class by its intensity and execution. Unlike Wick and his über fucking cool combo of moves and stylish shooting, the action here less rhythmic and more raw and dirty. The fight on the stairs, already teased in the trailer, will surely go down in memory and film history as one of the best ever. All in all, it lasts about ten minutes and there are damn few cuts, all backed up by phenomenal handheld camerawork that doesn't let the main characters breathe a sigh of relief (it's incredible what Charlize Theron physically does as she continues her badass ride after Fury Road). Everything else about the film, from the sexy neon, the 80s music, the stylish sets, the ditzy production design, to the atmospheric Berlin – a filmmaker's paradise of cold backdrops – goes by the wayside and plays second fiddle with a bit of hyperbole. Because that ten minute sequence is itself a film within a film, elevating the action craft in that class to a whole new level, something that was last done a decade ago and a notch below by Paul Greengrass with his jittery and frantic The Bourne Identity. (30/07/2017)

An excess of style sometimes paradoxically results in the absence of style. The film is so saturated with neon EBM fetishism and a fondness of looking at a heroine who is so cold that we can't fully sympathize with her, meaning that it eventually falls apart into a chain of badly connected scenes. A simple story told in a senselessly awkward and ineffective way, and thereby all the pleasure ultimately comes from the little things. And there are about ten minutes of them in the two-hour runtime. I wouldn't even accept that from Dederon. (04/08/2017)

Action goddess Charlize Theron in a spy action thriller. If I were to compare this film to John Wick, Wick is obviously closer to my heart, Atomic Blonde slightly lacks drive and the plot isn't entertaining and gripping enough to glue the viewer to their seat, yet there are scenes that will make me remember it. Definitely worth mentioning are the fights, of which there are quite a few and all of them are properly gritty and perfectly shot (the highlight being a 10 minute action scene in a building culminating in a car chase that had the whole cinema holding their breath). Also nice, especially for men, is Sofia Boutella, who has a passionate fling with Charlize Theron, seeing two beautiful actresses in bed will please any film fan. All in all, an enjoyable action ride that slightly lacks pace and disappoints with a weaker script, but the action makes it definitely worth seeing. 75% (13/08/2017)

Little was missing for me to be absolutely thrilled. I finally got to see a full-fledged action movie again, complete with a cool retro atmosphere of divided Berlin and an even better 80s soundtrack. As usual, I had a problem with the fact that the difference in weight had no effect on the fighting and the incredible stamina of everyone involved, but other than that, I have no major complaints. I had a really good time. (20/01/2018)