Like many films out there, Atomic Blonde appears to have its fans and detractors.  Those who like the film enjoyed the action sequences -some of which are quite excellent- while those who don’t like the film all that much point out the fact that the plot is rather bland and, at times, confusing and/or slow.

I can see both sides, though I ultimately fall on the “liking it” side.

Directed by David Leitch, Atomic Blonde basically plays out like a late Cold War version of Mr. Leitch’s previous film, John Wick.  Instead of a pseudo sci-fi set up involving assassins and their murky world, we’re placed in Berlin during the Cold War, when the city was separated by a wall and, as we find, we’re at the moment when the wall is about to come down…

…only there’s a problem: There’s this guy with a list that could prove very damaging to all the various spy agencies populating the area.  The Brits send Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron, quite into the role) to go look for this list (I suppose they could call it the McGuffin list).  Once in Berlin, things quickly go sideways as the Soviets seem to already have a bead on her.

She meets her contact, David Percival (James McAvoy, quite fun), but doesn’t know just how much she can trust him.  She also realizes she’s being followed and dangers lurk around every corner.

Atomic Blonde is told in media res.  When we meet Lorraine, she’s already out of Berlin and is debriefing with her boss (Toby Jones) and in the company of a CIA man (John Goodman, quite fun as well) of the events that happened in Berlin.

The events make for a whopper of a story, full of plot twists that border -and often pass- into the realm of the ridiculous.

And yet… I was entertained.

There are plenty of things the film could and probably should have done better yet I liked what I saw and felt Ms. Theron once again proved herself more than capable of doing the action hero thing.

So, if you liked John Wick (and, bear in mind, I did not like John Wick 2), then Atomic Blonde might just be up your alley.

Just sit back and enjoy the action and the wonderful 80’s soundtrack and don’t think too hard about all those plot twists.

It’s not worth the headache.