The short version…John Wick is a woman duking it out in Berlin circa 1989, days before the Wall is destroyed by the residents. To create the mood, cue up all the predictable Eighties synth tunes that sound German (New Order, Depeche Mode) or are (Kraftwerk, Peter Schilling). Throw in some faux lesbian sex and you have a pseudo John Wick prequel.
This doesn’t mean I hated Atomic Blonde, I just wasn’t impressed nor surprised. The story and its execution follow a predictable path despite the double agent “twist” thrown into the mix. One big problem is when the story was set, 1989. Sure, relations between the NATO states and today’s Russia have continued to suck but the Warsaw Pact countries mostly collapsed so we all know the Stasi will be toothless in weeks. So the exposition from the MI6/CIA handlers saying the list of operatives being exposed will be disastrous lacks credibility.
The fighting choreography was intriguing, namely the stunts the heroine pulls off while nursing her accumulation of injuries…the John Wick comparison which is valid because David Leitch directed both. Ergo, watch the melees and fast forward dialog-heavy parts.
Alamo Extras: A newsreel showing how spies infiltrated Gyrotech (the people who make automatic doors for grocery stores?); Scenes from a UK movie called Deadlier Than The Male; Trailer for Danger Girls and Death Stalks in High Heels; Scene from Girl From Rio; Kurt Russell when he was a kid doing a commercial for a spy/terrorist toy; and a disappointingly not funny Funny or Die bit with Theron’s phone being hacked while she was on the toilet.