John Wick assured that anytime stuntmen-turned-co-directors
Chad Stahelski and David Leitch do anything, I will watch the living hell out
of it. Leitch didn’t return for John Wick: Chapter 2 (which did
not disappoint) largely because he was flying solo on the now-titled
Atomic Blonde, which just dropped a trailer and, yeah, I am
100% holy shit in love with this Cold War actioner already. Stop what you’re
doing and watch it right this moment.
Normally, I’d be bummed out about the annoying use of a slow,
maudlin cover of a well-known pop song, but in this case, one, they play with the
device a bit, and two, good god, I don’t care, they can play whatever the hell
they want over that long single take of Charlize Theron wrecking dudes. And I
love that “Academy Award Winner Charlize Theron” flashes on screen right after
she finishes pummeling goons, that’s spot-on perfect and sets the tone.
From an action standpoint, Atomic Blonde
shares obvious DNA with John Wick. The fights are
elaborately staged and choreographed, brutally efficient, and filmed without
ubiquitous close ups and lightning fast edits. This give you a raw, I’m-watching-a-real-fight
vibe. And Theron looks like she pulls it off. I know those scenes with her and
Sofia Boutella (Kingsman: The Secret Service) are supposed
to be all sexy and whatnot, but I can’t wait to see the two of them throw down,
that should be a great deal of fun to witness.
Based on the graphic novel The Coldest City,
here’s the Atomic Blonde synopsis:
The crown jewel of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service, Agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone into Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.
Atomic Blonde stars Charlize Theron,
James McAvoy, Sofia Boutella, John Goodman, Til Scweiger, Eddie Marsan, and Toby
Jones, and though it premieres at SXSW shortly, the rest of us have to wait
until June 28. I won’t lie, this is going to be a tough wait, but one that may
be well worth the time.
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