Director David Leitch received plenty of deserved praise for his skill at staging action sequences when “The Fall Guy” was released in theaters earlier this year, especially given that movie’s spotlight on the hard work of stunt performers. As entertaining as “The Fall Guy” is, though, Leitch’s masterpiece remains 2017’s “Atomic Blonde,” which is not only Leitch’s best film but also the best action movie of the past 15 years.
Following right after Leitch’s work as uncredited co-director on “John Wick” and just before his foray into blockbuster franchise filmmaking, “Atomic Blonde” doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, but now that it’s streaming for free on both Tubi and Freevee, there’s no excuse for action fans not to check it out. Anyone watching “Atomic Blonde” for the first time will discover an impeccably crafted action movie with the kind of dazzling set pieces that Leitch is known for, along with a twisty espionage story and one of Charlize Theron’s best performances.
Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, a British MI6 agent sent to Berlin in November 1989, just as the Berlin Wall is about to come down. She’s on the trail of one of the most common MacGuffins in spy movies, a list of the real identities of every secret agent working in Berlin. Not surprisingly, everyone else in the intelligence community is after the list, too.
Lorraine is immediately targeted by Russian agents, and her supposed ally, MI6 Berlin station head David Percival (James McAvoy), is clearly not trustworthy. Many betrayals and double-crosses follow as Lorraine tracks down the list and attempts to get the Russian defector codenamed Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) to safety.
The action in ‘Atomic Blonde’ is astonishing
Leitch and screenwriter Kurt Johnstad (adapting the graphic novel “The Coldest City” by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart) use the engaging but convoluted plot as a platform for some of the most mind-blowing action scenes in recent memory, including a bravura single-take centerpiece that emphasizes the brutality of hand-to-hand combat. Lorraine is introduced lowering her bruised and battered body into an ice bath, and as the movie flashes back to 10 days earlier, Leitch meticulously documents the origins of every one of those injuries.
It makes sense that a former stuntman who created such a loving tribute to stunt work in “The Fall Guy” would be especially attuned to the physical toll that violence takes on the body. As Lorraine escorts Spyglass through a throng of protestors on the way to the border between East and West Berlin, they’re attacked by KGB snipers, and they duck into an abandoned building for cover. There, Lorraine fights off multiple Russian agents, in a sequence that moves from the building’s stairwell into an empty apartment and back out again, all delivered in one unbroken shot.
While nearly all of “Atomic Blonde” is infused with recognizable 1980s pop songs, the only sounds in the stairwell fight scene are grunts, groans and the impact of bodies against solid objects. By the end, Lorraine is barely able to stand, but she still perseveres, and Theron conveys both her physical agony and her unflappable determination. That attitude carries her through other breathtaking action scenes, including earlier in the movie when she uses a rubber hose as both a weapon and an escape cable, tied to the body of an enemy for ballast.
The characters are as fascinating as the action
As talented as Leitch is at staging action, “Atomic Blonde” would just be a cool stunt show without characters worth caring about, and Theron makes Lorraine alluring and emotionally vulnerable while keeping her mysterious. Her romantic connection with rookie French agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella) offers some tantalizing sensuality, but there’s also genuine heartbreak when Lorraine realizes what she risks losing.
There’s a dry wit to Lorraine’s repartee with superior officers played by Toby Jones and John Goodman in the debriefing session that forms the movie’s framing sequence, while McAvoy brings a more manic energy to the reckless Percival, whose main goal seems to be spreading chaos wherever he goes. Although they’re ostensibly on the same side, the antagonism between Lorraine and Percival builds until a satisfying final confrontation, when both seemingly get what they deserve.
‘Atomic Blonde’ is an underrated achievement
Stylistically, Leitch drenches the nighttime scenes in neon, and both Lorraine’s hotel room and the nightclub where she meets up with Delphine are playfully suffused with bisexual lighting. Some of the music choices may seem obvious, but Leitch makes playful juxtapositions, effectively using George Michael’s “Father Figure” for one of the biggest action scenes and A Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran (So Far Away)” to transition out of the music-free single take.
There’s a noir feel to the story, clearly influenced by Carol Reed’s classic “The Third Man,” with a series of final twists that are both triumphant and bittersweet. Leitch’s other films, including “Bullet Train” and “Fast and Furious” spin-off “Hobbs & Shaw,” are more lighthearted, but “Atomic Blonde” is his most fully realized film, a new action classic that only looks better as time passes.
