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drwexNote not a "hot mess" though there's an argument that label applies, too. Charlize Theron's lead in the screen adaptation of The Coldest City is somewhat scrambled and appears to suffer in a couple places from poor editing choices, but that's not what I mean. I mean, first, that Theron's Lorraine Broughton is hot on screen. Theron mastered more of the action and fight moves than the directors initially expected, so several of the fight sequences were improved and put together more tightly to show what she could do. She's now my #3 choice for next Bond. (*) Also, her interactions with Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella) are hot. 4/5 stars if you like spy thrillers and good action flicks (of which there are far too few headed by women).
The film is also messy in a way you don't often see in action films. Broughton fights guys who are bigger than she is, and they hurt her. You get to see blood, not in the the gouts-of-fake-fluid sense, but in the sense that being in a real fight messes you up. You bleed, get cut up and bruised, and it stays with you. Broughton takes hits and gives better than she gets and you see all of it. It's like someone wiped all the "clean" off a Bond flick. Gritty realism has been a thing in Hollywood films lately, but mostly that comes across as oppressive darkness and gloom. Atomic Blonde is not a happy film and few people in it end up happy at the end, but it's not oppressively gloomy and I definitely want to see more. Making this into a Theron-led franchise would be a happy thing in my world.
I mentioned Boutella earlier and she turns in a good performance here as a possible naif, someone who may be in over her head. Broughton's foil in this caper, though, is David Percival (James McAvoy), an agent who has most definitely "gone native" in communist East Berlin in the months before the wall comes down. Nominally, Broughton and Percival are on the same side, supposed to work together to extract "Spyglass" a duplicitous Stasi agent who has managed to assemble a list of operatives. Spyglass will exchange this list for safe passage for himself and his family to the West. Of course, things go wrong. MI-6 sends Broughton in to sort the mess out and get that list, setting up the film's primary conflict.
The intertwined secondary conflict revolves around a long-known double agent, identified only as Satchel. This person has been selling Western secrets to the Soviets for years and Broughton is also given the job of discovering and eliminating this threat. In fact, Satchel's identity may even be on this List that Spyglass has assembled. The movie presents us with multiple plausible characters who could be Satchel and then... well, you should see it if you like this kind of thing.
McAvoy's performance is deliberately scene-chewing. He's loud, brash, doesn't care, drinks too much, screws around, and generally doesn't seem competent. Except he is, leaving us to think the whole brash thing is a front. In counterpoint, Theron's performance is restrained fury - she's cold and calculating and tough as nails. You know what she's capable of, and it's just waiting to see how and when she's going to cut loose. Both actors are excellent solo and opposite each other.
The other really good part about this film is the soundtrack. It's set in the weeks of May and June 1990, right before the demolition of the Berlin Wall. The film's sound includes a number of classic tunes from that era, including "Cat People" (often called "Putting out Fire") by Bowie, "Major Tom", "Fight the Power", and "99 Luftballons". Baby Driver was widely talked up as a movie that integrated music with its visuals and I think Atomic Blonde does an even better job of that. The music sets scenes, appears almost as a character in the film, and the way it's integrated with the action, the dialog, and the effects ought to win the sound designer an Oscar.
One of my biggest problems is that the overplot doesn't make sense. None of the characters posed as possible Satchel actually makes sense. If Satchel is one of Broughton or Percival then they both ought to be working to keep Spyglass from getting to the West, since he has the list memorized. In theory, Satchel's identity is on that list, a theory supported by John Goodman's Emmett Kurzfeld giving Lorraine the newspaper that leads to her being warned that "Satchel has been compromised."
At the bottom of the river, where no one could possibly see her, Broughton fights to get Spyglass out of the car, at risk to herself. If he could potentially blow her cover, why not just let him sink? That leads you to believe (or led me) that she's not Satchel and certainly Percival is set up to be that kind of double-crosser but in the end I guess not. If he's not, then why try to kill Spyglass? Sure, Spyglass can give the List to MI-6, but that doesn't mean there aren't many other buyers who'd want it, not least of them the Soviets.
The film is also annoyingly light on how people know some of the things they know. I felt at least once like a scene or two had been cut out that might have shown some of this.
(*) behind Kate Beckinsale and Idris Elba
The film is also messy in a way you don't often see in action films. Broughton fights guys who are bigger than she is, and they hurt her. You get to see blood, not in the the gouts-of-fake-fluid sense, but in the sense that being in a real fight messes you up. You bleed, get cut up and bruised, and it stays with you. Broughton takes hits and gives better than she gets and you see all of it. It's like someone wiped all the "clean" off a Bond flick. Gritty realism has been a thing in Hollywood films lately, but mostly that comes across as oppressive darkness and gloom. Atomic Blonde is not a happy film and few people in it end up happy at the end, but it's not oppressively gloomy and I definitely want to see more. Making this into a Theron-led franchise would be a happy thing in my world.
I mentioned Boutella earlier and she turns in a good performance here as a possible naif, someone who may be in over her head. Broughton's foil in this caper, though, is David Percival (James McAvoy), an agent who has most definitely "gone native" in communist East Berlin in the months before the wall comes down. Nominally, Broughton and Percival are on the same side, supposed to work together to extract "Spyglass" a duplicitous Stasi agent who has managed to assemble a list of operatives. Spyglass will exchange this list for safe passage for himself and his family to the West. Of course, things go wrong. MI-6 sends Broughton in to sort the mess out and get that list, setting up the film's primary conflict.
The intertwined secondary conflict revolves around a long-known double agent, identified only as Satchel. This person has been selling Western secrets to the Soviets for years and Broughton is also given the job of discovering and eliminating this threat. In fact, Satchel's identity may even be on this List that Spyglass has assembled. The movie presents us with multiple plausible characters who could be Satchel and then... well, you should see it if you like this kind of thing.
McAvoy's performance is deliberately scene-chewing. He's loud, brash, doesn't care, drinks too much, screws around, and generally doesn't seem competent. Except he is, leaving us to think the whole brash thing is a front. In counterpoint, Theron's performance is restrained fury - she's cold and calculating and tough as nails. You know what she's capable of, and it's just waiting to see how and when she's going to cut loose. Both actors are excellent solo and opposite each other.
The other really good part about this film is the soundtrack. It's set in the weeks of May and June 1990, right before the demolition of the Berlin Wall. The film's sound includes a number of classic tunes from that era, including "Cat People" (often called "Putting out Fire") by Bowie, "Major Tom", "Fight the Power", and "99 Luftballons". Baby Driver was widely talked up as a movie that integrated music with its visuals and I think Atomic Blonde does an even better job of that. The music sets scenes, appears almost as a character in the film, and the way it's integrated with the action, the dialog, and the effects ought to win the sound designer an Oscar.
One of my biggest problems is that the overplot doesn't make sense. None of the characters posed as possible Satchel actually makes sense. If Satchel is one of Broughton or Percival then they both ought to be working to keep Spyglass from getting to the West, since he has the list memorized. In theory, Satchel's identity is on that list, a theory supported by John Goodman's Emmett Kurzfeld giving Lorraine the newspaper that leads to her being warned that "Satchel has been compromised."
At the bottom of the river, where no one could possibly see her, Broughton fights to get Spyglass out of the car, at risk to herself. If he could potentially blow her cover, why not just let him sink? That leads you to believe (or led me) that she's not Satchel and certainly Percival is set up to be that kind of double-crosser but in the end I guess not. If he's not, then why try to kill Spyglass? Sure, Spyglass can give the List to MI-6, but that doesn't mean there aren't many other buyers who'd want it, not least of them the Soviets.
The film is also annoyingly light on how people know some of the things they know. I felt at least once like a scene or two had been cut out that might have shown some of this.
(*) behind Kate Beckinsale and Idris Elba
no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 12:56 pm (UTC)(And no, I haven't seen this movie.)
no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-08-25 09:17 pm (UTC)And yeah, that whole thing is pretty intense.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-26 09:39 pm (UTC)Our Favorite Blonde would probably wanted the list, not the man, as - in the movie you see her modify the list to keep her own cover, and excuse her murder of ... Which leaves me with the question, how many bosses did she have? OK, so the CIA asked her to infiltrate MI6, and once she had done that, she got tapped by Stasi, and then sold Stasi bad data, got good data, passed good data to CIA and semi good data to MI6. ... Right?
So she would thus prefer tBhe MAN dead, as she could not edit him.
BUT: if the choices are "the man" or "nothing". getting the man out would be useful, to extract SOME data, and then maybe flee to America, if she needs to. SO she tried to save the MAN when she thought Stasi had the list.
When she figureed out had the list - AND she had already LOST she had to get the damned list....
IF BRITISH Dude, kept the list and got it back to London, she was 100% fucked. He was a Hero...
So killing British Dude and getting and editing the list was the BEST plan. (and framing British Dude was a plus.
SHE knew British Dude had Gone Native; as she was in contact with Stasi...
Am i confused?
ALSO I think she killed British dude for (1) going native (2) the list (3) killing the french girl. [more or less in that order]
And I gotta say, the French Operative was 100% "Bond Girl" - out of her league, trying to help, getting killed... Fantastic.
SO much love for this movie.
As it opened, i was confused as to why she was bathing in ice; until I saw the bruises. Which was - amazing - that hollywood - would show the aftermath of the fighting she did. WOW. So good.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-26 11:20 pm (UTC)The big unanswered question was "what was her actual plan?" She went to significant lengths to get Spyglass out, first with the umbrellas and then after the car ended up in the river. So assuming she intended to get him out, one option is that he would have gone to Langley rather than London. But that would have blown her cover with MI-6 and without their backing I'm not sure she could've cleaned up with the Russians. Again, that was clearly planned - likely she knew what they were going to do - but in that case why even bother going there? If the Satchel identity is compromised either way why not just go home? Likely (again, not explained in movie) her final assignment was to take out the KGB agent. To do that she had to keep the Satchel identity going and again the whole flipping maguffin makes no sense.