Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Movie Review: Atomic Blonde (+trailer)

Toby Woollaston
By Toby Woollaston
Reviewer·NZME. regionals·
6 Aug, 2017 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Scene from the Charlize Theron action film Atomic Blonde

Scene from the Charlize Theron action film Atomic Blonde

The name is Blonde, Atomic Blonde. Actually, her name is Lorraine which doesn't have quite the same zing ... but other than that, Charlize Theron's new role may as well be a female Bond (or perhaps more accurately a female Bourne).

It is 1989 and the Berlin Wall is about to collapse, signifying the end of communism in Europe's East. However, a rogue list naming covert operatives is in the wind and it threatens to halt the pro-democracy movement.

Enter Lorraine Broughton (Theron), a spy for Britain's MI6 who is sent to retrieve the list. Her point of contact in Berlin is David Percival (James McAvoy) and together the two navigate the cagey and violent world of espionage.

Set to a backdrop of graffiti, punks, physical media and 80s music (including the obligatory Falco and Nena), Atomic Blonde makes damn sure you know it's the eighties.

Cinematographer Jonathan Sela frames the film with a graphic novel sensibility, from which the story originates, and every opportunity is taken to bathe scenes in neon pinks and baby blues.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In his first feature film as director, David Leitch has employed his background as a stuntman to great effect. Technically there is little to fault the film's kinetic flair with impressive set pieces and fight sequences that evoke a genuine physicality.

Although we've seen this kind of spy story many times over, the film competently negotiates the pitfalls common to the genre, in particular the delicate balance between over or under explaining its many plot complications. Atomic Blonde's flashback narrative structure goes someway to alleviate such problems.

Most notably, Atomic Blonde is a comment on the current gender imbalance in spy thriller films, similar to Wonder Woman's take on the superhero genre.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Casting a woman as your protagonist is one thing, but when she excels in what is traditionally a man's domain, then it becomes a statement. At one point a character who is sympathetic to the old communist regime utters "Women are always getting in the way of progress," to which Theron's sharp retort is clearly a rebuke of such antiquated notions.

However, dig a little deeper beyond the style and gender concerns and (like Wonder Woman) we are met with a bog-standard genre flick that, while competently handled by its director, walks a well-trodden path. For some this will be enough, but others might consider Atomic Blonde to be a little hollow.

Atomic Blonde
Running time: 115 mins; Rating: R16

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

German tourist stabbed by drunk man who couldn't find his car keys

08 May 08:00 AM
Northern Advocate

'Every day I hear his music': Family mourn hip-hop artist as killer driver jailed

08 May 07:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Mayor backs hapū in Bay of Islands marina battle

08 May 04:35 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

German tourist stabbed by drunk man who couldn't find his car keys

German tourist stabbed by drunk man who couldn't find his car keys

08 May 08:00 AM

Kenneth Green swung a knife 35 times, stabbing the victim he had been drinking with twice.

'Every day I hear his music': Family mourn hip-hop artist as killer driver jailed

'Every day I hear his music': Family mourn hip-hop artist as killer driver jailed

08 May 07:00 AM
Mayor backs hapū in Bay of Islands marina battle

Mayor backs hapū in Bay of Islands marina battle

08 May 04:35 AM
‘Wonderful’ initiative: Sailors gather ocean data in climate effort

‘Wonderful’ initiative: Sailors gather ocean data in climate effort

08 May 02:37 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP