Personally, whenever a movie gets announced and is considered to be a “Passion Project” of someone closely involved, whether it be an actor, director, writer, or producer, it automatically grabs ahold of my attention and never leaves my sights until I get a chance to see it for myself. For example, Denis Villeneuve has stated that a dream of his was to direct an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s “Dune,” and sure enough, we’re getting his dream come true in October, and so far it looks like Villeneuve has poured his heart and soul into every frame (side note on this: Hans Zimmer turned down the chance to score Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” because of his love for the book and desire to instead score “Dune,” and just from the first few tracks released from the soundtrack, Zimmer has also poured his soul into every note of his music, as always.)
So today, I want to tell you about a passion project that is not only beautiful to look at but is what I consider to be a criminally under-appreciated action movie classic: “Atomic Blonde.” Charlize Theron not only put herself through hell in front of the camera for the movie: she was the driving force behind the camera as well. She served as a producer for the movie, and hand-selected David Leitch after watching the first John Wick (which Leitch served as not only producer but also was an uncredited co-director.)
You can tell Theron gave everything she had for this movie. In a Variety article released a few weeks prior to the movie’s premiere, we learn that she was pretty banged up after doing all the stunts. I’m sure for many people it may seem that going from an Oscar-winning role in 2003’s “Monster” to becoming a major action star would be a step backward in one’s career. But when you see Charlize Theron in “Mad Max: Fury Road” and then in “Atomic Blonde,” it’s clear this isn’t a step down: even though she is getting older, she’s finding ways to not only evolve as an actor, but she damn well may be getting even better than she ever has been before. It shows great versatility as a performer, especially when she delivers on so many levels.
I don’t believe the movie is flawless; it’s a bit convoluted, some of the characters probably deserved a bit more screen time to flesh out their stories, and it most definitely is a style over substance kind of action thriller. But the action is top-notch, you can really tell that David Leitch knows what he’s doing, along with a lead who’s committed to doing most of the stunts herself in a more than convincing way (not to mention that there’s a near ten minute long unbroken shot that has many different forms of hand-to-hand-combat along with a car chase and plenty of tension,) the supporting cast is stacked and they all do wonderful jobs (even if, as I said, they don’t always get their big chances to shine,) it has a stellar soundtrack, and, as I mentioned earlier, it’s absolutely gorgeous to look at. Cinematographer Jonathan Sela, who also worked on Leitch’s previous projects “Deadpool 2” and “Hobbs & Shaw” and is working with him again on “Bullet Train,” truly shines in this movie and I wanted to make sure to include a special shout out to him.
As I mentioned, the movie is a bit convoluted, and when I left the theater with my dad back in 2017, we had wildly different reactions: I was confused but I really enjoyed most of it, and he was able to follow along with everything and had a big grin on his face walking out, no confusion from him. Now, it’s one of my favorite action thrillers, with its sleek style, confident action, compelling lead and fascinating supporting characters, beautiful visual tone, catchy soundtrack, and to top it off for this viewer, we got some bisexual representation on screen, and I really appreciated it. This movie could be seen as a female “Wick” movie, and to be fair at first I thought this would be perfect to call a gender-swapped James Bond movie, but four years later, this movie stands on its own, despite drawing easy comparisons to spy thrillers that came before.
Jared Douglas Tonsfeldt
I’ve loved movies all my life and it’s a dream come true to be able to share about my views on film! My favorite Director is Alfred Hitchcock and my favorite movie is Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
