While the action genre certainly has a history of skewing towards male heroes, plenty of female badasses have become iconic over the years as well. From Ellen Ripley to Lara Croft, women have played central roles in some of the coolest action sequences ever committed to film. Now it looks like Atomic Blonde's Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) is about to join that hall of fame as well. A new clip from the upcoming action flick has just debuted online, and it shows the Oscar winner laying a serious beat down on James McAvoy's David Percival. Take a look at the scene below, and prepare to wince for McAvoy.
That sequence doesn't necessarily provide us with much context for the overarching Atomic Blonde narrative, but it definitively goes a long way towards fleshing out the film's characters -- and the dynamic between them. One thing is certain: Lorraine Broughton will clearly have trust issues during her mission in Berlin (a natural state, considering her line of work as a spy/assassin). The relationship between Percival and Broughton almost feels reminiscent of a buddy movie, with an appropriate balance of witty banter and playful antagonism between them. Whether or not James McAvoy's character is really a friend or a foe remains to be seen, but his dynamic with Charlize Theron is definitely one of the most exciting qualities of the upcoming film -- aside from the badass action sequences, that is.
Of course, I would be remiss for not directly acknowledging the fact that one of Atomic Blonde's biggest selling points is the titular atomic blonde. Over the course of her career, Charlize Theron has consistently proven herself as one of the most reliable and daring actresses in Hollywood. She has a strong action pedigree (look no further than her role as Furiosa in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road if you need evidence of that fact) and Atomic Blonde really feels like the culmination of everything that she excels at as a performer. It is highly physical and insanely intense, but it also has a humorous undercurrent that keeps things light and fun.
Having said that, for all of the credit that we want to give to Charlize Theron, we still need to acknowledge the man behind the camera as well. Atomic Blonde looks like a fantastic action extravaganza, and that is primarily made possible due to the deft filmmaking style of David Leitch. Numerous action and suspense techniques perfected on the John Wick films are on full display in Atomic Blonde as well, and it is fairly clear that we may very well have another potential franchise on our hands if audiences respond well to the upcoming film.
Atomic Blonde will debut in theaters later this month on July 28. If you are currently on the lookout for more information concerning the rest of the films set to debut in 2017, make sure to check out our comprehensive movie premiere guide!
