Atomic Blonde: flawed, but exactly what I wanted

A group of us watched the movie the other night, and all of us left the theater having enjoyed it--but we all also agreed it had a lot of flaws.  Despite those flaws, however, it was exactly what I had hoped it would be:  stylish, rough, and full of Theron being the toughest person in recent action films.

If Jason Bourne didn't feel bad about what he did and never hesitated to initiate the action, and if he put more of himself into every punch, you'd have Theron's Lorraine Broughton, the Atomic Blonde of the film's title.  Theron stalks through this film like an animal on the hunt, and in many ways she is always hunting.  She's fine in the still scenes, but she's at her best in action, kicking butt and taking hits with pain but an unstoppable determination to continue the fight.

Having said that, the film's flaws are many and easy to spot.  The plot's final reveal does not stand up to scrutiny; you just have to go with it.  The violence is way, way over the top and beyond what any real person could take--as is typical these days in action films.  Worst of all, the slow scenes that are supposed to be tense and build to more tension never work as well as they should.

None of that matters, though, next to the pleasure of watching Theron work.  Add to that the spectacle of James MacAvoy chewing the scenery in his most fun role in ages, and you have a film that I heartily recommend for anyone seeking an action flick.

The second trailer for Atomic Blonde

only makes me want to see it more.

Yup, I am so there, maybe even on Friday, July 28, the day it appears.

Mad Max: Fury Road

is by far the craziest, most full-tilt-boogie action film in ages.  With a consistent--and insane--vision that informs every shot, from the broadest sweeping takes on his weird future to the most intimate close-ups, filmmaker George Miller has created a compelling velocity exercise that you can't stop watching.  It's no wonder that its Rotten Tomatoes ratings sit at 98% critics and 93% audience as of this writing.

The real star of this movie is neither Tom Hardy nor Charlize Theron; it's Miller, with his incredibule pacing and his consistent--and consistently disturbing--post-apocalyptic future.  That said, Hardy and Theron do fine with their roles, though most of what Hardy does amounts to looking intense and grunting.  Theron delivers a more interesting performance and is always in character.  Nicholas Hoult, portraying one of the rough boys of the big bad guy, steals almost every scene he's in.

None of this is to say that this latest Mad Max is a film without flaw; it has many.  It just drives right through them, intent on sustaining its speed no matter what.

If you want two hours of non-stop, bat-shit-crazy action, Mad Max:  Fury Road is the film for you.