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Atomic Explosion of Feminine Visceral Power

posted 7 years ago by WoodyAlien (27)
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Charlize Theron's command of the screen is absolute in this female version of John Wick 2. Directed by the same co-creator, Atomic Blonde is a one-man, excuse me, ONE-WOMAN vehicle of unparalleled execution of visually stunning, impeccably choreographed scenes of mayhem. What it lacks in plot and story, it more than makes up for in A-list actress presence and weight given to the role by Theron's acting. The long close-ups of the titular character dragging on a cigarette (whether in the interrogation room or in her hotel room), complete with pregnant pauses that seem to hang in the air longer than they should, are counter-balanced with quick edits of non-stop action and punctuated by a throbbing soundtrack. The sound editing deserves an Oscar nomination since it elevates every scene by precisely capturing it's mood, and revealing more about the characters than they can do themselves through their acting. Toby Jones and John Goodman are left with scraps of material to work with in this movie, since so much of the screen time is devoted to the "spy" characters and their cat-and-mouse daliances. When studio executives talk about a movie star being able to "open a movie", Atomic Blonde can, and should be used as exhibit A, B, and C! Without the force and the piercing cold stares, and deliberate delivery of lines of dialogue in Theron's acting, this movie would disappear into oblivion after the 1st weekend. Her presence makes all the difference, even more so since none of her much less accomplished co-stars are in her league and lack her acting chops. The music, cinematography of action sequences, and realism of brutal fight scenes are some of the best captured on film. The staircase fight sequence towards the end of the film, is an all-time Top 10 realistic fight classic. This is a tour-de-force of one cold, calculating, jaded, and relentlessly uncompromising woman, which recalls the best films in the genre (Leon: The professional) and leaves others (La Femme Nikita) in the dust.
Plot: C, Acting: (Theron: A, rest of cast: C), Sound & Score: A, Cinematography: B+, Choreography of Action Sequences: A-, Directing: B.

[–] Frogarama (12942) 7 years ago

Good to hear, I've been looking forward to it.

[–] Gort84 (6) 7 years ago

Meh

[–] NotASpeckOfCereal (302) 7 years ago

Actually, I think this is a lot better than JW2. This fighting, while still pretty frantic, is quite a bit more realistic. She doesn't take on nearly as many bad guys at once and even then, she takes her licks hard, gets pretty roughed up. And then of course, she keeps going, because she's super tough.

I like JW, but he could take on an army and always be putting several slugs in each brain pan with hardly a scratch. After awhile, it's kind of a yawner.

When Lorraine was fighting Mr. Platinum hair guy, it was brutal for both.

The sound editing and soundtrack were very well done.

We should also note that the DP did and absolutely fantastic job, such great scenes, use of color, depth and brightness.

And as you say, the fight sequence choreography was some of the best. I also agree with most of your ratings at the end there, noting that the C plot is acceptable with all of the A marks in Theron acting and cinematography

[–] WoodyAlien (27) 7 years ago

Thank you for adding some meaningful comments to my post. In regard to John Wick, the first movie was a fun action, bullet-ballet. The 2nd one was such a disaster. Keanu May have done some of his worst acting in this movie. While the shootouts were completely unrealistic, they were expertly done. But JW2 was a mess in every other sense. I got duped into watching it opening weekend seeing the 7.7/10 imdb score. That's 2 hours I wish I had back!
So yes, this film is immeasurably better in every sense. I like how she took her licks in this movie because in most action movies with male stars, they seem almost invincible. The bruises and blood on her small frame accentuate the realism of the fights. The Platinum Blond guy she fought was a particular highlight. If you've been in a real fight, you know how quickly you lose your breath, and start staggering and being off-balance. I immediately made a mental note that this is something almost NEVER seen in any action movie. Fights in other movies are non-stop making you think the combatants have the lung capacity of Michael Phelps in carrying on a brawl. In this particular fight scene, it was notable that when they were both severely damaged, they still knew that in the next 3-5 minutes one if them had to die and thus the tension was ratched up for the viewer knowing that this was a "do-or-die" encounter.
I love how the music encapsulated that era so well, and the little details of Berlin's riotous and rebellious youth loitering and sitting on top of vehicles. Yes, this was Berlin! When I visited Berlin myself 15 years ago, it has some of those same elements left over from the late 80s, including the ever-present graffiti. I will re-watch this movie in the next week or so, just so I could pay attention to the sound editing and how it fit each scene.

[–] DracTarashV2 (4493) 7 years ago

Almost appeared like you likened Atomic Blonde to John Wick 2 in a very positive way... and then u say John Wick 2 is a disaster unworthy of its acclaim. Ok, to each his own. :P

Still, the John Wick films garnered far more praise than this movie, and they are wildly considered to be action cinema at its finest (thanks to it stupendous choreography, direction, score, pace and tone, relentless action, and yes, even performances). Actually, they're seen as something better. Obviously you will disagree with that notion, but as far as I'm, and many others are concerned, they are very deserving of it.

Keanu is as stiff and cringey as ever? I see him as effective, as the rest of the cast is. The fights are super unrealistic? Well, yes, they don't call Wick the "baba yaga" for no reason. And despite the fact that his character successfully takes on an insane amount of trained assassins, you DO see him struggle and not finish the fights so easily. He's a one man army for sure, but ultimately not quite as invincible and one-dimensional as you might think.

In any event, the Wick series may not have lived up to your expectations but the films - much to the annoyance of some - will justifiably be talked about for years to come. This movie? It's neat and fun. But we'll see how it holds up.

[–] WoodyAlien (27) 7 years ago

John Wick 2, Rambo: First Blood, Enter the Dragon, Argo are all action movies, and all but the 1st one are considered classics/Oscar winners. They have something else in common: each has a rating of 7.7 on imdb user reviews. When one movie stands out as clearly inferior, I think it shows that it is benefiting from "recency bias" of new users who are unfamiliar with older films, and/or blown away by special effects.
The similarity in A.B and JW2 is that they are both shallow, summer popcorn movies, and not nearly well-enough executed to warrant further attention. The difference is one has a juggernaut of an actress who is an Oscar winner and stands head and shoulders above her co-stars. While the other stars Keanu Reeves who is outperformed by virtually every member of the cast (save the mute female assasin), appears wooden, and cannot emote on screen. While one actor's performance elevates an average movie, the other (Keanu's) sinks it.
The bullet action scenes have been executed much better in video games, so to elevate the rating of a movie based on spectacular bullet choreography would be a disservice to the director's vision for that movie. Even action movies can be spectacularly choreographed while at the same time not sacrificing either the creative vision of the director, or nuanced plotlines (see: Dark Knight). Thus while both of the aforementioned movies have similar elements, what differentiates A.B. is the acting of the titular character, sound editing and authenticity of mileu: East Berlin ( down to the exact Pan Am logos on the plane).

[–] sleepingtiger (712) 7 years ago

I can't wait to see ATOMIC BLONDE, mainly because of Theron, who's one of the better actresses out there today, and because she usually plays very strong, tough female characters who are never just the pretty girl in the background (like in the recent installment of THE FAST & THE FURIOUS, where she plays the main ice-cold villain, and playing an equally evil character in THE HUNTSMAN:WINTER'S WAR.) There's a behind-the-scenes look at ATOMIC BLONDE in which it's shown that Theron actually trained in the martial arts for months before the film started, and that she did a lot of the fight scenes herself, which made it easier for the crew to shoot her fighting scenes straight through. That being said, I have to disagree about JOHN WICK 2, because I liked it, it was jam-packed with more crazy action/inventive fight scenes, and I thought it was even better than the first one (which I liked a lot because it's basically a throwback to HK fighting flicks, fight-scene wise, and also because those same fight scenes seemed more realistic than your usual Hollywood film fights.) One of my favorite scenes in JOHN WICK 2 is when John Wick is trapped in the building with all these assassins coming at him at once---what happens is that every time Wick has to pop one of the killers, as soon as he runs out of bullets from his weapon, he has to snatch another gun from the same guy he's just popped, and start using that gun to protect himself---he does this several times, and I have to admit that's something I've almost never seen in the average Hollywood action film. Also after Wick gets his a** whipped and beat down more than once, he's literally dragging himself away at one point to keep himself alive after getting shot---the film dosen't show him as invincible in the least, which is also refreshing. That being said,I'd recommend both JOHN WICK films---especially since there might be a third installment coming up----the end of JW2 was definitely left open for one---I can see it coming from a mile away. Looked it up, and apparently, it's already a done deal---I'm so geeked, lol:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/john-wick-3-brings-back-writer-derek-kolstad-1009145

Just a question----does anyone know how I can make the links I post clickable? I'd like to know because I've only seen it done once on here, I just haven't seen any instructions on how to do it,that's all.

[–] sleepingtiger (712) 7 years ago

Saw ATOMIC BLONDE, and enjoyed it, mainly because I love spy films, and because Charlize Theron was whipping everybody's a** left, right, up and down in it (her character gets beat down and horribly hurt more than once, in a very brutal, realistic way---she gives it as good as she's got,though.) I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who loves spy films (especially Cold War-era made ones, or films set in that era.)

[–] JediJones (235) 7 years ago

That rating seems way too low for the other actors. All of the heavies were certainly well-cast. I thought McAvoy did a good job, despite being given an impossible role for an actor to make work. Sofia was also very good at doing what she was there to do, albeit a bit better when she was playing naive than a fellow master spy.

Agreed on the plot though, and that makes this movie tough to recommend for anyone but Theron fans or people with an affinity for the spy genre.

[–] WoodyAlien (27) 7 years ago

Well-cast.....yes. well-acted...no. Goodman has little screen time and is playing.....John Goodman. Compare real-life Comey to John Goodman's portrayal while stuffing down a British sandwich down his throat. It was a funny scene, but far from realistic. McCoy seems like he is over-acting in every scene with his exaggerated impressions, eye squinting, fidgeting and general uneasiness whenever he and Theron share a scene together. If he would have played the role cooler and been more detached, he would have been more believable. Even Theron's character at one point in the movie calls him out on it "I don't believe this hungover act you are doing". If Lorraine thinks he is laying it on thick, what kind of believable spy does that make him? Sofia's vulnerability during the bathroom episode was very refreshing to see in a young actress, otherwise her performance lacked nuance or believability in her "free-spirit/devil may cate" portrayal of a spy, even if she was there only 1 year on assignment. Toby Jones only role is to sit at the table and utter lines without any emotion or care. A stiff upper lip, nay a stiff lower performance, I say. Thus the rating.
Try this instead:
Michael Fassbender in the McAvoy role.
DeNiro in the Goodman role (a CIA director role he played before).
Alicia Vikander instead of Sofia.
Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Toby Jones.
Russian heavy played by.....actually that short performance on screen was just right. That one I would not change.
Now you can see how this movie would be much better? But it's not an Oscar contender with a big budget, so we are left with this.