The line “style over substance” is used so much in reviews of film and other works of art that is seemingly has lost its intended meaning. It is often a cheap and tired way of criticizing a film for worrying about “looking good” at the expense of everything else. While critics might have their hearts in the right place, they often forget that, sometimes, the style of a film is the substance. The visual look and, if I may use the language of the time, the vibes of the film can be what its creator wants the audience to experience and interpret. The style can be what the director wants the audience to ultimately take away from their time with the film. I know this might ruffle the feathers of film bros and other assorted killjoys, but their feathers should be ruffled often. I am sure they probably did not enjoy or appreciate the fact that “Atomic Blonde”, the 2017 Cold War action thriller from David Leitch, is a film where its substance is its style. “Atomic Blonde” presents a visually sleek, stylized, and dynamic look at Berlin just before the fall of the Berlin Wall while featuring a soundtrack as killer as its lead actress. 

Let’s get this out of the way right now - the plot of “Atomic Blonde” is convoluted as hell, and it is told with a framing device where the lead character is recounting past events. That matter is complicated because the lead character is a spy, so can she really be trusted with the truth? The lead character and the titular “Atomic Blonde” is Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron), an agent for MI6. She is dispatched to Berlin in November of 1989 to recover “The List”, a microfilm document with dirt on all the intelligence activity currently happening in Berlin. Fellow agent James Gascoigne (Bill Skarsgard in a brief appearance) was in possession of the “The List”, which was hidden in his watch, before he was killed and relieved of the property by KGB agent Aleksander Bremovych (Roland Moller). When Lorraine arrives in Berlin, she is instructed to meet up with David Percival (James McAvoy), another MI6 agent and one who has gone a bit “feral” in the words of his superiors. Percival is working with “Spyglass” (Eddie Marsan), a Stasi defector who also has memorized the list while Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella), a novice agent working for French intelligence, involves herself in the web of espionage. The actions of these characters are all recounted by Lorraine to her Eric Gray (Toby Jones), her supervisor in MI6 and Emmet Kurzfeld (John Goodman), a CIA agent who also has a key interest in what is happening in Berlin. 

Like I said, the film’s plot is very convoluted by its nature of being about espionage in Berlin during the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The true intentions of many characters are not really known until the last possible moment. It is understandable for one to feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under their feet because of the switches “Atomic Blonde” employs with its plot and its characters. That is just the way things are when one is watching a spy movie, but the criticism is valid and understandable. That being said… the convoluted nature of the plot does nothing to dampen or lessen my adoration for what “Atomic Blonde” presents during its runtime of 115 minutes. The film is a exciting and gorgeous experience filled to the brim with wonderful music of its time and place and some incredibly intense action sequences. The style of the film overcomes the confusing substance of its story in an effective and pleasing fashion. 

“Atomic Blonde” employs a cool and icy blue color style for its exterior shots of Berlin during November of 1989. The Cold War is still happening, and Berlin is the coldest of cities. The look of Berlin in “Atomic Blonde” more than gets this point across to the audience. Cinematographer Jonathan Sela runs wild with the way he captures the exteriors of the film and infuses them with a color palette that relays all the needed feelings and emotions one must have to understand the time and place of “Atomic Blonde. Sela does an equally fantastic job with the way he presents interior locations. They are vividly shot and lit with gorgeous colors and patterns that give subtle hints about the characters actions and motivations. Without saying too much, Lorraine’s apartment in Berlin employs a color pattern that might tip you off as to how she’ll process a later meeting with Delphine.

Going hand and in hand with the colors employed in “Atomic Blonde” is the music that gives key scenes an additional flare and boost. So many fantastic needle drops of 1980 New Wave and Euro Pop music are employed to accent the 1989 time frame and the setting of Berlin. Most of these needle drops take place during either very dramatic moments, scenes of intense violence, or even your standard plot advancing montages. You simply cannot go wrong or have fault with a movie that effectively uses songs like Nena’s “99 Luftballons”, Siouxsie and the Banshee’s “Cities in the Dust”, and ’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry”, among others. 

And a review of “Atomic Blonde” cannot be complete without giving praise to Theron’s performance as Lorraine. Her turn in this film is fresh off of her turn as Furiosa in “Mad Max: Fury Road”, and she continues to show audiences just how effective she is as an action star. Theron dives deep into the complex nature of Lorraine’s character while also getting to showcase some incredible fight sequences. Lorraine is someone who is tortured by the work she does, but she can still kill someone at the drop of a hat or striking red heels, which she can easily turn into a deadly weapon. All of Lorraine’s fight sequences, some which go on in seemingly continuous shots, are captured and directed with a high level of precision by Leitch, who calls on his experiences working on the original “John Wick” film. 

Is “Atomic Blonde” a perfect film” Not at all. One must try to keep up with the tangled web of espionage and plot points it spins before reaching what might be a confusing and frustrating conclusion. Does that matter to me? Not at all. The style of “Atomic Blonde” is what brings me back to this film, and the reason why I hold it in such high regard. It is a film that hits all the positive triggers for me when it comes to the way a film like this should look and sound. The vibes and the aesthetic of “Atomic Blonde” are what matters to me. The style of “Atomic Blonde” is its substance, and that is not a bad thing. 

This review is part of my Now Playing series showcasing new releases I watched in a theater setting.

Atomic Blonde
(David Leitch, 2017)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2