By the time the credits roll over a cover of “Voices Carry,” you realize you weren’t watching a hero. You were watching a chess piece that learned how to play the game. The Atomic Blonde is not a "chick flick" action movie. It’s not a "guy flick" action movie. It’s a film lover’s action movie.
Modern action heroes walk away from explosions with a cute smudge of dirt on their cheek. Lorraine walks away from a stairwell fight with a broken rib, a swollen eye, and a limp that lasts for two reels.
We had seen the shaky-cam of the Bourne sequels. We had seen the quippy, CG-heavy heroics of the Marvel universe. And we had definitely seen the "lone wolf agent gets revenge" trope a hundred times over. the atomic blonde
Let’s be honest: By 2017, we were all suffering from a little bit of action fatigue.
So when The Atomic Blonde hit theaters, starring Charlize Theron as a chain-smoking, vodka-sipping MI6 assassin, everyone expected a stylish, but forgettable, John Wick clone (it was directed by David Leitch, after all). By the time the credits roll over a
Have you seen The Atomic Blonde ? Did the stairwell fight make you exhausted just watching it? Drop your hot takes in the comments below.
But here’s the secret: The Atomic Blonde isn’t just a clone. It’s a masterpiece of controlled chaos. And seven years later, it still hits harder than a frozen knuckle to the jaw. The first thing you notice about Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is that she is not invincible. In fact, she spends most of the movie looking like she just lost a fight. It’s not a "guy flick" action movie
If you want CGI armies and a hero who cracks jokes after a fall from a helicopter, go watch Thor . If you want a film where a woman wraps a hose around a thug’s neck while a Depeche Mode synth beat drops, and you believe she might actually die trying...
Without giving anything away, the final act re-contextualizes the entire movie. The Lorraine you think you know? She might not exist. The film asks a brilliant question: If you are a spy whose entire job is lying, how do you know when you’re telling the truth?