Charlize Therone’s new action movie Atomic Blonde (4K, BD, DVD) has been called a “female Jason Bourne” and also been compared with John Wick, but I think a better comparison may be Angelina Jolie’s Salt or Robert DeNiro’s Ronin. Watching it reminded me a great deal of spy thrillers produced closer to the era in which it is set, the 1980’s. While there certainly is a good bit of action in the form mainly of gun and hand-to-hand fight scenes, the long non-linear plot (time jumping) and multiple conflicted characters whose motivations and allegiances are unclear are more reminiscent of classics such as Three Days of the Condor or North by Northwest.

If you go into this movie looking for pure action or clear-cut good v.s. evil you’re going to be disappointed. Instead, go into this with no expectations, and I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The movie does a good job of revealing the story in a way and at a pace that allows the viewer to “figure it out” but not too soon. Even then, it leads you to certain conclusions only to add a twist you may not have expected just to keep things interesting.

I have to say, I made the mistake of watching this looking for some mindless action… After the first 45 minutes I gave up on that and surrendered to letting it give me what it had… not what I wanted. I was a lot happier by the end for it. Give it a shot. It deserves it. A rare movie for these times, made to deliver an experience that’s difficult to find in new movies these days. Atomic Blonde probably won’t be popular enough to be a franchise… it demands the audience pay attention and think about what’s happening. I understand most people don’t want to do that most of the time… but I think plenty of people do want that sometimes. If you like slower-burn mystery/suspence/thrillers where you can’t ever be sure who’s really the good guy, or if there even is one, give this a shot. Let Hollywood know there is interest in something a little different… a little better than the cookie cutter clones they give us most of the time.