Lorraine Broughtan, a brutal and lethal MI6 agent, is thrown into the middle of an espionage ring and caught in the strife of the falling of the Berlin wall, all in an attempt to retrieve an important dossier of information, in Atomic Blonde.
Anybody who has read my reviews on this site so far can come to the conclusion that I tend to love David Leitch directed films. On the heels of the skyrocketing success of John Wick, and with an amazing lineup of talent both in front of and behind the camera in the likes of Leitch, Charlize Theron, and James McAvoy, Atomic Blonde has, on paper, all the makings of a perfect action film. Yet it falls so short that it almost hurts. And that’s not even the worst thing about it.
Following a rather basic, albeit very convoluted, by the numbers espionage thriller setup, it wasn’t ever expected that it would do anything new with the foundation. Where it could’ve excelled was in the portrayal of the characters and the new scope of rather ultraviolent combat depicted in John Wick, and while it definitely tries, it fails, and fails hard. Most notably, it fails Lorraine, a character who deserved better than stereotypes and tired tropes of the male gaze “badass woman” with a case of hot lesbianism. Falling straight into the problematic belief that women can only be strong and mighty by exhibiting male traits, while also being highly sexualized and objectified, Lorraine feels less like a real woman and more like a man in a hot chick suit. And let’s not forget that disgustingly explicit sex scene that felt like nothing more than an attempt to get young guys squirming in their seats. Can we please leave that kind of uninformed objectification in the past? Come on, David. You’re better than this.
Where John Wick excelled in creating a large world through the little things and by endearing you to the titular character, Around Blonde feels like taking a giant bite of a cookie you thought was chocolate chip, only to find out it’s an oatmeal raisin with bran base, and now you’re trying to figure out what to do with it before it makes you sick. The only traits Lorraine depicts are flat, recycled tropes, and Charlize Theron’s performance does nothing to elevate her beyond an idea of what a man thinks a woman is. Sofia Boutella is criminally mistreated as Delphine, a character who exists almost specifically for a hot lesbian sex scene and nothing else. And while James McAvoy is wonderful, as always, it’s problematic that he’s the only standout in a film that’s supposed to be about a female lead.
And as an aside, we never had to watch John Wick have a hot sex scene with one of his costars, female or male. Why did we need one here?
The stunts are impressive and choreographed in a way that is absolutely fantastic. The cold color palette dashed with bathing neons paints a vivid picture of war torn Germany in 1989. Tyler Bates makes another wonderful score. He never fails at what he does best. But it’s hard to realize that these are the only highlights in a film that could’ve been so much more.
We had a shot at a female led action franchise. John Wick with a woman as the star. But instead of that, we got another sexually objectified, stereotype powered, convoluted mess of tired tropes and unoriginal schlock that should’ve stayed buried in the rubble of the Berlin Wall.