Atomic Blonde (2017)
A Cold War-era spy film featuring modern fight choreography, it shows us the 1980s through the same lens that Hayley Atwell's
Agent Carter did the 1940s, with the proverbial volume turned up. Very nice cinematography, design and choreography. The director is a long-time stunt performer and the fight scenes are exceptional. This was his first film as director; he's working on
Deadpool 2 right now, which has me really looking forward to that movie.
Charlize Theron is both actor and movie star (I separate the two) and while she's mainly the latter in this film, she brings some of the former to a couple of important scenes, which I thought made a big difference. Someone like Milla Jovovich could have done much of the action scenes, but it wouldn't have been the same movie. I think Theron has really aged into her looks, and I'd say the director and cinematographer agree with me, using the hyper-'80s neon colors to light her. And, according to
a Hollywood Reporter article, "Charlize did 98 percent of her own action including fighting, running and those kinds of things. When it comes where she has to fall down stairs or swing from a height — that she can't do insurance-wise."
The fight scenes were where the movie really shone, for me. Being a fan of fight sports, it's difficult for me to call fight scenes in movies "realistic." Movie fighting is its own martial art, distinct from combat fighting, self-defense fighting, and sport fighting, and part of movie fighting's raison d'etre is to be
unreal. Still, there's a version of movie fighting that is more down-to-Earth, while still being creative and thrilling to watch. The director doesn't use spastic, split-second cuts, instead letting you appreciate the action and its results, which can be both exhilarating and cringe-inducing. You can follow the flow of the scene, its sequence of events, and the action may even tell you something about the characters. Netflix's
Daredevil is another good example of this style.
'It does what it says on the tin' is a lovely phrase that I've borrowed from our former Imperial masters. If this looks like it's up your alley, I think you'll enjoy it, but I'm not sure it transcends the genre. That same
HR article about the stunts also notes that Theron is ready and willing to film a sequel. I'm in. I've grown bored with trying to assign movies a number rating, "4 out of 5 stars" or whatever. So I'm reaching back to Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's simplistic-yet-elegant system.
IIRC, she won an Oscar for Taming of the Shrew.
