I went into Atomic Blonde expecting something like a female led John Wick, with a bit more of an impressive plot. While the first is definitely spot on, the story was a bit more complex than I was ready for. . .

THE GOOD:

Just like you would expect from this movies trailers, and the director being the acclaimed stunt coordinator David Leitch, this movies action and in particular it’s fight scenes, are some of the best you will see all year.

Not only are they exhilarating and fun to watch, but they have a true to life feel that nobody has ever seen carried out from a smaller woman like Charlize Theron.

Leitch excels in not only creating exciting fight scenes, but in creating them as some of the most gritty and realistic fight scenes that you will see all year.

Instead of this being another Hollywood film that depicts fighting as some easy superhuman act, Lietch excels in making each fighter take quite a bit of effort and fatigue during their fights to the death.

Especially in the case of a smaller woman like Theron, Leitch directed a unique and realistic fighting style that would suit a women her size who is taking down men over a hundred pounds heavier than her.

This makes the fighting even more fun to watch, as each fighter and their opponent take on a realistic amount of damage from all of the carnage they incur.

Hands down, Atomic Blonde has some of the best fight choreography and action you will see this year.

The second and perhaps the only other stellar part of this film, is in the excellent acting job that Charlize Theron, James McAvoy and others portrayed.

Of course Charlize Theron and McAvoy are talented actors, but to see the both of them in a role like this (especially in Theron’s case) is unlike any we have seen them take on before.

Theron is absolutely excellent as Lorraine Broughton, while McAvoy is just as talented. Many critics are calling Theron the first female James Bond and that is a damn accurate comparison, as she perfectly embodies the true grittiness, charm and charisma of a 007 agent.

What makes Theron even more impressive in this case is how she is not portrayed as just some pretty super-spy, but as someone as gritty and bad-ass as a Jason Bourne, who Charlize does an excellent job at convincing us as.

THE BAD:

The storyline and telling. . .

While this is not the worst writing and storytelling I have seen this year, it is still damaging enough to hurt the average viewers enjoyment of what could of been a significantly better film.

It’s not that the writing is necessarily awful, it is more so that it is muddled and confusing to the point you are going to likely find yourself thinking way too for a spy thriller like this.

While some may enjoy how a James Bond movie leads their story along in some fancy spy style, this is just not the case for me or anyone else who just wants to understand the movie and enjoy it.

It’s not that the movies twists were really bad or completely un-comprehendible, but they were cloudy enough to hurt my enjoyment of the film, as I am the type of person who watches movies vicariously, so if I can’t understand them well, I can’t enjoy them a lot either.

If you are the type of movie goer who likes to understand a movie at every level then Atomic Blonde is almost certain to become an irritation for you as, you will find yourself thinking too hard in order to understand what in the world is being communicated.

Unless you are the type of person who can remember everyone’s name after one mention and every other detail about their role in a movie, then this is going to be a hard one to follow.

THE VERDICT:

Atomic Blonde has some seriously impressive action and fight choreography, as you can definitely tell this is a David Leitch film.

The cast of Atomic Blonde is also stellar as Charlize Theron, James McAvoy and others excel in their roles.

Atomic Blonde offers stellar style, but un-fortunately falls short in the stellar category of clear storytelling and plot.

Bottom Line:

If you can remember multiple details after hearing them one time then you will probably enjoy this movie a lot, but if you are like me and need to hear things more than once in order to fully memorize and understand them, then this movie is going to cause you to think too hard for your own enjoyment.