Blondes Have More Guns

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter

After nearly two decades of churning out box office bummers, Hollywood has officially entered an action renaissance.

As artfully crafted action films like “Baby Driver” and “John Wick” bring new fans to the genre, stuntman-turned-director David Leitch has lit the feminine fuse on the canon of modern action spectacles.
Therein strides Charlize Theron, who won an Academy Award for playing Florida murderer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster” in 2003. “Monster” also opened the doors, eventually, for Santa Monica director Patty Jenkins to celebrate another kind of powerful female—“Wonder Woman.”

The South African-born actor has already made her mark on the genre in the rebooted “Italian Job” movie, where Theron did most of her own driving stunts, and even overshadowed Tom Hardy in “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

The 5-foot, 10-inch blonde is known as a fierce actress who plays such tough characters with a certain chilling ease, whether it be the evil queen in the “Snow White/Huntsman” movies or the villain in the latest “Fast and Furious” romp. But those are ensemble pieces

Now she shines largely alone as the fierce and merciless Lorraine Broughton in the new Cold War thriller “Atomic Blonde.”

The story follows Broughton, a fearless and seductive MI6 agent, who has been given an assignment to retrieve “The List” ––an irreplaceable dossier that has been intercepted by a Russian renegade.

Opposite Theron stars James McAvoy, a playfully psychopathic Berlin bureau chief who brings both humor and mystery to the film, and part-time Palisadian John Goodman and Toby Jones.

Set in the shabby streets of 1980s Berlin, “Atomic Blonde” swings hard as the era’s dividing wall falls to an eclectic soundtrack of artists ranging from David Bowie to Public Enemy.

Accompanying the meticulously crafted fight sequences and espionage plot is the same style of gorgeous cinematography that has made the “John Wick” series so critically adored.

And while some early reviewers have criticized the film as being a sort of female-Bond gimmick, others who have been advocating for a “Jane Bond” should leave this film feeling happy.

Still with a few weeks to book your tickets, “Atomic Blonde” hits theaters July 28.