Atomic Blonde

With the Berlin wall on the brink of collapse, MI-6 send one of their top agents (Charlize Theron) to track down a leaked list of active spies and reign in a potentially out of control station master (James McAvoy).

This comes from the makers of action masterpiece John Wick, a film whose main strength is its no-nonsense style over substance approach. Atomic Blonde takes a somewhat more plot driven approach and it doesn’t always work. It’s nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is and the final act in particular only serves to remind the audience of the film’s complete lack of weight or intrigue.

In spite of this, Atomic Blonde is still stylish, fun and well paced. Theron is a good choice as the kickass lead (although her British accent could have done with quite a lot more work) and McAvoy nails down the spy-gone-native role. It’s a solid and slick spy thriller that is spoiled by some odd narrative choices.