If you imagine a film about double crossing spies in Berlin in 1989, in the days leading up to the collapse of the wall, a sombre John Le Carre like piece would probably spring to mind. Atomic Blonde is definitely not that. Instead it is an outrageous ultra stylised action movie.
Charlize Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent sent to the divided city to primarily locate a missing list of double agents, and also uncover an unknown traitorous operative. The plot never gets time to settle and it is clear that no one can be trusted. Theron is great in the title role, ice cool, and very convincing in the fight scenes. I was less won over by James McAvoy as David Percival, her local contact. Maybe it was because I had so recently seen him in Split but it felt like he was re-playing one of his troubled over the top characters. There is better, more under stated, support from Eddie Marsan as a Stasi officer wanting to defect and Toby Jones, David Faulkner and John Goodman as her superiors.
The action scenes are well staged by director David Leitch, as you would expect bearing in mind his background in stunt work, though it does get a bit tiring seeing Lorraine beaten to a pulp in one scene and being fine apart from a few bruises in the next one. The story is suitably twisty but it is pretty obvious and it lacks the subtlety and depth that someone like Le Carre or Stella Rimington would have brought to it.
In the end, this is a well made actioner with an interesting background but little substance.
Rating 6.5 out of 10