A spy thriller that's more loud and violent than it is interesting, Atomic Blonde has impressive visual direction, cinematography and mostly good fight choreography. But, the movie kind of struggles to make you care for its narrative.
Again, this movie is stylish in almost every way. The soundtrack is nostalgic, exciting and adds a "cool" aura to the fast-paced editing and sequences. The cinematography and neon/vibrant visual direction adds an interesting contrast to the cold winter of its setting. Some of the punk aesthetics and mild emphasis on tech of the time also give add an interesting flair to the presentation.
But the story is the movie's biggest shortcoming. To put it simply, it struggles to make you care for its characters and the bigger plot at hand. There's no soul or emotion. Things feel artificial and the overwhelming use of spy tropes just makes things feel bland and tad bit predictable.
Things do get a little interesting in the last quarter of the movie, where character expression is much more present and emotional, but even then I feel like there needed to be a bit more build up of these characters in order for the more emotional moments to hit a bit more.
So, while the movie fairs as a pretty good action movie, the narrative isn't quite there to make it feel like a worthy spy-thriller.
Again, this movie is stylish in almost every way. The soundtrack is nostalgic, exciting and adds a "cool" aura to the fast-paced editing and sequences. The cinematography and neon/vibrant visual direction adds an interesting contrast to the cold winter of its setting. Some of the punk aesthetics and mild emphasis on tech of the time also give add an interesting flair to the presentation.
But the story is the movie's biggest shortcoming. To put it simply, it struggles to make you care for its characters and the bigger plot at hand. There's no soul or emotion. Things feel artificial and the overwhelming use of spy tropes just makes things feel bland and tad bit predictable.
Things do get a little interesting in the last quarter of the movie, where character expression is much more present and emotional, but even then I feel like there needed to be a bit more build up of these characters in order for the more emotional moments to hit a bit more.
So, while the movie fairs as a pretty good action movie, the narrative isn't quite there to make it feel like a worthy spy-thriller.