I saw
'ATOMIC BLONDE' at an advance screening at my local multiplex one week ahead of its Australian release on 3rd August. Directed by David Leitch in his first solo Directorial outing having served as the uncredited Co-Director on
'John Wick' with Chad Stahelski and having served his time over the years as Stunt Co-ordinator and Stuntman on more action films than you can poke a stick at, and in the capacity as Second Unit Director on a good many also, and occasional Producer and Actor too. Next up for this new Director is
'Deadpool 2' currently filming and due in 2018. This film is based on the 2012 graphic novel titled
'The Coldest City' by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, stars a strong cast and a thumping '80's soundtrack and cost US$30M to make. The film has so far garnered generally positive Reviews.
The film opens with the death of MI6 Agent James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) at the hands of ruthless KGB Agent Yuri Bakhtin (Johannes Johannesson) who then proceeds to remove his wristwatch - for it contains microfilm detailing a List of covert field operatives working in the USSR, that is a very valuable commodity in this 1989 cold war era action spy thriller set on the eve of the Berlin Wall coming down and with it the shifting of superpower alliances. Fast forward ten days and in an ice cold bath emerges a very bruised, beaten-up and battered Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) - a top level MI6 Agent.
She steps out of her bath, pours herself a neat Stoli over rocks, gulps it down and makes herself presentable. She then appears in an interrogation room with MI6 Executive Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA Agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) to discuss the intricacies of her very recent mission to Berlin from which she has just returned, and is wearing the battle scars to prove it. The day following Gasciogne's death she is dispatched to Berlin by her superiors to recover the List, now missing in action, and identify, locate and dispense with a known Double Agent referred to as 'Satchel' who has been selling intelligence to the Ruskies for years, and who is believed to be responsible for betraying Gasciogne.
Upon arriving in Berlin, supposedly undercover and incognito, she is ambushed by KGB Agents working for a a lynchpin of the KGB and a generally unscrupulous kinda guy that you don't wanna cross, Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Moller). After a set piece involving Broughton's red stiletto and close quarter hand to hand combat inside a speeding car that doesn't end so well for the Russian's, she is met with very unceremoniously by her contact in Berlin - Agent David Percival (James McAvoy). Percival has been living and working in Berlin for the last ten years or so and is so deep undercover that there's not much he doesn't know about what's what and who's who in Berlin - on both the east and west sides of the Wall.
Later, having made slow progress with her investigations Broughton has a snoop around Gasciogne's apartment looking for any clues. She discovers a photograph of him and Percival indicating that the two men were close friends - a fact earlier denied by Percival. East German Police Officers arrive on the scene of the apartment and another close quarter hand to hand fist fight ensues with Broughton dispensing with them pesky Police types with her usual aplomb using a length of hose pipe and sundry household implements lying around the abode. She comes to realise that only Percival knew that she was going to Gasciogne's apartment, and suspects him of double crossing her to the authorities, and for potentially being Satchel.
Bakhtin meanwhile intends to sell the List to the highest bidder. Percival, having received word of this, arranges a rendezvous and then sticks a screwdriver in Bakhtin's forehead killing him outright stone dead, and takes the List for himself. Broughton in the meantime has met up with a sultry young undercover French Agent Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella) and the two are instantly drawn to each other. Percival meets with Bremovych to sell the List to him, but unknown to the pair is that Lasalle is covertly photographing their meeting.
Amongst all of this is a Soviet defector known as Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) who stole the List in the first place and is the only person to have sighted the contents of the List and has all its data committed to his memory. Spyglass also is a Stasi Officer. Percival has agreed to escort Spyglass and his family across the border into West Berlin, but during a large protest rally which Broughton, Percival and Spyglass use as cover to effect their escape to the West, Percival shoots Spyglass and sends word to Bremovych's men that the injured Spyglass and Broughton are on the run. More hand to hand combat follows, and all the while Spyglass is bleeding out from his shot to the stomach. The pair end up in car which gets chased down the streets of East Berlin by Bremovych's henchmen. Eventually the car is shunted into the river - Broughton swims free but is unable to free a pinned down Spyglass who drowns in the passenger seat as the car sinks into the River.
After this fracas, Percival visits Lasalle, and kills her to cover his own tracks but not before the French Agent was able to stab Percival twice. Lorraine arrives just after Percival has left, discovering the dead body of Lasalle and an envelope with her name on it containing the covert photographs taken of Percival meeting with Bremovych, proving in her mind that Percival is Satchel. After Percival patches up his wounds, he sets his safe house alight and attempts to flee the city under cover of darkness. Broughton tracks him down, shoots him dead and removes the wristwatch containing the List.
Back in the present day and still in the interrogation room where Broughton has been dutifully recounting all the facts surrounding her Berlin assignment to Gray and Kurzfeld, she presents the photographs and an audio recording that she spliced together herself that show that Percival was Satchel. She also denies all knowledge of the whereabouts of the List, forcing MI6 to shut down the case.
Three days later and Broughton meets with Bremovych in a Paris hotel suite, and she reveals herself to be Satchel, and in possession of the List, which she hands over to the Russian mobster. Bremovych knows however, that he has been set up and has his three henchmen and a 'cleaner' enter the room to dispense with Broughton and dispose of her body. Using a pistol concealed in an ice bucket, Broughton instead dispenses with the three henchmen and the cleaner, and then puts a bullet in Bremovych's head, but not before revealing first that she has been playing all sides along from the get go. Broughton then boards a private jet, where she meets Kurzfeld revealing herself to be a mole planted by the CIA, and hands over to him the wristwatch containing the List, before the pair depart for Langley . . . job done!
There a lot to like about this film - the pounding soundtrack featuring many late '80's greats including Depeche Mode, New Order, Public Enemy, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, Blondie, Duran Duran, David Bowie, George Michael and Nena; the well choreographed action fight sequences; the performances by McAvoy who chews up the screen and the dialogue, and Theron too proving herself to be a bona fide kick ass female action star; and the attention to detail in capturing the mood, the fashion, the sounds of the era. But for all of that I swear that Lorraine Broughton must be John Wick's Mum and she taught him everything she knows, because in the intense gun play and the close quarter fight scenes there are plenty of similarities with John Wick's previous two instalments. The plot we have seen before too (1996's
'Mission : Impossible') and as such it's pretty standard fare, that is saved from its predictability by the stylish and fast paced action. The film has so far grossed US$25M and I guess if it gets enough bums on seats, there is scope for a follow-on instalment.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
The film opens with the death of MI6 Agent James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) at the hands of ruthless KGB Agent Yuri Bakhtin (Johannes Johannesson) who then proceeds to remove his wristwatch - for it contains microfilm detailing a List of covert field operatives working in the USSR, that is a very valuable commodity in this 1989 cold war era action spy thriller set on the eve of the Berlin Wall coming down and with it the shifting of superpower alliances. Fast forward ten days and in an ice cold bath emerges a very bruised, beaten-up and battered Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) - a top level MI6 Agent.
She steps out of her bath, pours herself a neat Stoli over rocks, gulps it down and makes herself presentable. She then appears in an interrogation room with MI6 Executive Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA Agent Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman) to discuss the intricacies of her very recent mission to Berlin from which she has just returned, and is wearing the battle scars to prove it. The day following Gasciogne's death she is dispatched to Berlin by her superiors to recover the List, now missing in action, and identify, locate and dispense with a known Double Agent referred to as 'Satchel' who has been selling intelligence to the Ruskies for years, and who is believed to be responsible for betraying Gasciogne.
Amongst all of this is a Soviet defector known as Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) who stole the List in the first place and is the only person to have sighted the contents of the List and has all its data committed to his memory. Spyglass also is a Stasi Officer. Percival has agreed to escort Spyglass and his family across the border into West Berlin, but during a large protest rally which Broughton, Percival and Spyglass use as cover to effect their escape to the West, Percival shoots Spyglass and sends word to Bremovych's men that the injured Spyglass and Broughton are on the run. More hand to hand combat follows, and all the while Spyglass is bleeding out from his shot to the stomach. The pair end up in car which gets chased down the streets of East Berlin by Bremovych's henchmen. Eventually the car is shunted into the river - Broughton swims free but is unable to free a pinned down Spyglass who drowns in the passenger seat as the car sinks into the River.
After this fracas, Percival visits Lasalle, and kills her to cover his own tracks but not before the French Agent was able to stab Percival twice. Lorraine arrives just after Percival has left, discovering the dead body of Lasalle and an envelope with her name on it containing the covert photographs taken of Percival meeting with Bremovych, proving in her mind that Percival is Satchel. After Percival patches up his wounds, he sets his safe house alight and attempts to flee the city under cover of darkness. Broughton tracks him down, shoots him dead and removes the wristwatch containing the List.
Three days later and Broughton meets with Bremovych in a Paris hotel suite, and she reveals herself to be Satchel, and in possession of the List, which she hands over to the Russian mobster. Bremovych knows however, that he has been set up and has his three henchmen and a 'cleaner' enter the room to dispense with Broughton and dispose of her body. Using a pistol concealed in an ice bucket, Broughton instead dispenses with the three henchmen and the cleaner, and then puts a bullet in Bremovych's head, but not before revealing first that she has been playing all sides along from the get go. Broughton then boards a private jet, where she meets Kurzfeld revealing herself to be a mole planted by the CIA, and hands over to him the wristwatch containing the List, before the pair depart for Langley . . . job done!
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