ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)

David Leitch, in various capacities, has had his hand in some of the biggest action franchises of the last decade.  JOHN WICK; DEADPOOL; FAST AND FURIOUS.  But after watching this ‘original,’ where he feels fully in charge as sole director, you may wonder how much of a positive influence he was on those successes.  Told in flashback, 1989 Berlin is erupting in the societal unrest that will soon lead to the ‘Wall’ coming down.  With spillover instability bringing on chaos in the world of international espionage, there's little time to settle scores and grab the upper hand before everything changes.  No wonder East/West divides of loyalty feel fluid.  Whom to believe as the Cold War goes into its death rattle?  So, it makes sense there’s a race to find the ultimate Spy vs Spy Big Book o’ Secrets floating around Berlin.  Crackjack agent Charlize Theron is getting all beat up divining the various gangs keeping the ‘other side’ frm getting their paws on it.  But just how many ‘sides’; are there?  The vaguely delineated book the McGuffin to end all McGuffins.*  Theron works with double-agent James McAvoy to figure out a ‘safe’ way to get it out.  But can it be gotten, and can he be trusted?  Other gangs, East German Stasi and KGB also on the hunt), so Theron is forced to fight or shoot her way out with acrobatic moves and the trick rope skills of a circus vet,  Theron can take care of herself, but also shows the effort involved.  She’s pretty beat up at a debriefing for spy lords John Goodman and Toby Jones (another untrustworthy pair) and quite undone physically in a blonde fright wig.  This all should work a lot better than it does, but Leitch can’t decide what style it will best play in, alternating OTT martial arts with logistically unconvincing shoot-‘em ups.   Should actors simply brush off impossible blows like gnats or show real injuries and pain?  (So unlike WICK where it’s all of a piece, all dance and decor.)  Same goes for choices in set design and lighting.  As if Leitch wanted to order test swatches of style from all the films he was involved with, only to find they cancel each other out.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *A McGuffin is the important thing everyone in the film is trying to get their hands on, but of little importance to the audience.  Hitchcock came up with the term, but the idea is pretty common.  What’s less common are the three iconic Hitchcockian moments Leitch (and his writers?) rip off.  From DIAL M FOR MURDER, a woman stabs her attacker in the back, but the blade really goes in when the guy falls on it.  From THE 39 STEPS, a Mr. Memory figure who’s memorized the ‘McGuffin’ and dies because of it.  (Though here it’s also pointless within the film plot.  Boo!)  And finally, repurposing the decoy umbrella murder gag from FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT.