Charlize Theron: Atomic Blonde

Charlize Theron stars as a bisexual MI6 agent in an action flick that’s strong on style but weak on substance

- John DeFore

Just in time for the Cold War revival comes David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde, a rock-’em, sock- ’em spy tale set during the final days of the Berlin Wall. Playing the eponymous heroine (whose abilities, title notwithstanding, aren’t limited to hotness or hair color), Charlize Theron has all the regal, steely cool such a movie needs but is forced, alas, to keep her wit stashed somewhere alongside her fake passports. Based on a graphic novel by Antony Johnston, the story is no rival for John le Carre when it comes to the old cross/double-cross stuff. But a surfeit of style and a tasty supporting turn by James McAvoy help fill the time between fight scenes, which — this being a film by the stuntman/co-director behind John Wick and 2018’s Deadpool sequel — are pretty much the whole point.