Flat plot, bone-crunching performance.

It’s been a long, old road from Aeon Flux for Charlize Theron. Arriving just two years after her Academy Award win for Monster, the 2005 sci-fi blockbuster was fully intended to be her making as a full-blown action star. Unfortunately, it never quite turned out that way.

Although the roles never dried up (and why would they with a nice, shiny Oscar statuette on your shelf?), the film’s failure with critics and audiences knocked the stuffing out of Theron’s blockbuster ambitions. Not one to bail from a fight, the girl from Benoni took the blow on her chin and battled back to the big time, before landing a plum role opposite Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road. In a performance of breath-taking intensity and physicality, it was at this precise moment that any lingering doubts about her aptitude as an action star were well and truly quashed.

Charlize Theron’s filmography is a long and colourful one, yet, in this one perfectly pitched role as the powerful Imperator Furiosa, a whole new cinematic arena had opened for her to do battle in. And battle she did, as the following years quickly became some of the most fruitful of her career; establishing Theron as one of the premiere actresses in Hollywood today. However, while blockbuster gigs have come thick and fast for the actress, it’s not since the days of Aeon Flux that Theron’s name has gained top billing. If Atomic Blonde is anything to go by, prepare for all that to change.

With the end of a decade and a divided Germany in sight, Agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) - the crown jewel in Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service - is dispatched to Berlin on the eve of the Wall’s collapse, to take down a ruthless espionage ring and recover a dossier that threatens to throw the world in to chaos. Ordered to cooperate with eccentric Berlin station chief, David Percival (James McAvoy), Agent Broughton must use every trick in the book to navigate a deadly game of spies and take down a threat that risks prolonging the Cold War for decades.

A film with a single star billing lives or dies on the commitment of its lead but, with Charlize Theron giving nothing less than one hundred percent; her devotion to the role is never in doubt for a minute. While a Hollywood star in the truest sense of the word, there’s little risk of Theron’s lofty status impeding her willingness to get down and dirty with a part when necessary and, as an actor without a hint of pretence, she her level of work ethic is something few in the industry can match.

Battered, bruised, and bloodied by the film’s end, Theron’s portrayal of secret agent extraordinaire, Broughton, is an all-encompassing tsunami of a performance; one of bristling such physicality and prowess that it puts even the most ardent action performers to shame, regardless of gender. It’s a turn that cuts across boundaries to prove, if proof were ever needed, that combat and physical aptitude need not be the sole cinematic realm of men.

Charlize Theron’s performance is one of those rare occasions where an actor’s sheer presence alone is enough to pull a film up by the bootstraps and out from the depths of mediocrity. While Agent Broughton herself isn’t a character with any particular depth and a little too cold to be truly engaging, the dominance and balls-to-the-wall commitment of Theron’s performance ensures that Atomic Blonde never falls flat. Part ballerina, part wrecking ball; Theron lays waste to all-comers, leaving little doubt as to whose film this is and, if ever confirmation were needed that actions speak louder than words, this is it.

As bravura drips from every blood-drenched pore, style is Atomic Blonde’s primary mode currency; informing everything from the action to the achingly chic period setting. It’s the kind of self-aware modishness that flirts dangerously with becoming try-hard but, when the execution is this on-point, who cares?

The film is surface-level in almost every aspect, but it’s through its fight scenes that something a little bit more substantial can be found. Hyper-stylised and choreographed to within an inch of their life, the film’s fight scenes are visually spectacular and wonderfully immersive, yet each one has a level of tactility and commitment that are able place Atomic Blonde apart from many modern actioners. In an era of weightless, CGI action; the physicality in Atomic Blonde is positively awe-inspiring, with a guttural, down-and-dirty quality that allows for a little emotional resonance to be found under all the gloss.

Considering how expertly executed Atomic Blonde’s action is, it’s little wonder that director David Leitch’s CV boasts a rather impressive filmography as stuntman, stunt coordinator, and second unit director to a who’s-who of action blockbusters. While the road from stuntman to director may not sound like an obvious one, there’s plenty on offer in Atomic Blonde to suggest that he has a bright future behind the camera.

Making his fully-fledged debut as co-director on the Keanu Reeves renaissance hit, John Wick, Leitch brings much of the same kinetic energy to the party here and the result is similarly dizzying. Every one of Atomic Blonde’s set pieces possess a raw, balletic flow that straddles the line between the slick action choreography you’d get in a top-end Hollywood blockbuster and the dynamic physicality that made John Wick so refreshing. Atomic Blonde’s many shortcomings may expose Leitch’s directorial limitations, but the promise is most definitely there and, given the right script, who knows where he could go from here.

Leitch is clearly a man comfortable with all forms of fighting style, constantly finding creative ways to utilise every inch of the screen to keep the action interesting and the contrasts on display are eminently fascinating. But, while much of Atomic Blonde’s action takes place within an other-worldly, hyper-stylised bubble; by far the most memorable set piece is a seven minute, one-take sequence that dispenses with the gloss for something far more caustic.

As the director presses pause on the film’s omnipresent soundtrack, Theron’s Agent Broughton becomes a one-woman wrecking machine as she mercilessly ploughs through scores of henchmen in a bid to protect Eddie Marsan’s turncoat Stasi officer. While having one person take on an onslaught of faceless henchmen is hardly a new concept for an action film, few would have the bravery to pull it off in quite this manner.

The fight is unremitting and exhausting; clearly taking its toll on all involved, not least the star herself, as we’re dragged into a no-holds-barred slog-fest of feet, fists, and any inanimate object to hand. There are no quick cuts, no fancy camera angles, no driving score, and certainly no stunt doubles; just Charlize Theron, a small army of bad guys, buckets of blood, and enough sweat to drown a man in. It’s an incredibly draining viewing experience, but all in the best possible way and, for a film that clearly prides itself on action authenticity, this is its crowning achievement.

Atomic Blonde is pure style over substance and it knows it. As a piece if well-manicured action chutzpah, the film clicks; yet, dig a little deeper, and it clearly struggles to bring anything significant to the table. There are bundles of fun to be had from the film’s action and hyper-stylised 80s oeuvre, but the ultimate effect is rather hollow. With cursory dialogue, cliched plotting, and everyone looking like they’ve just wandered on set from an edgy aftershave ad; Atomic Blonde is guilty of partaking in the worst indulgences of the spy genre.

Coming off like an amalgam of every spy film ever conceived; no matter how seriously Atomic Blonde wants to be taken, it all feels far too pastichey to stand on its own two feet. The film owes a huge debt to the James Bond franchise, but not necessarily in the best sense. There’s a ton of pulpy, 007-esque fun to be had; yet, in its attempt to syphon as much as it can from the granddaddy of all spy franchises, it’s forgotten to dispense with Bond’s very worst tropes.

There are plots, counter plots, insiders, deceptions, double-crosses, secret files, secret lists, awkward sex scenes, suspicious Germans, and even more suspicious Russians. It’s like a tick-list of the stalest spy clichés and it’s all rather uninspired. Although Atomic Blonde’s ballsy action will live long in the memory, there’s very little elsewhere that will and, while the film has potential to do so much more with its premise, the end result never quite gels.

As shallow as it is, there’s little resisting Atomic Blonde’s swagger and style. Enjoyed from the right angle, the film is a thing of pure, stylish joy; with a keen eye for 80s chic and a penchant for brutal, well-orchestrated fight sequences. It may possess all the depth of an ice bath but, thanks to a full-blooded, powerhouse performance from Charlize Theron; the film drags you along, kicking and screaming, to its ultra-violent beat. Like its star, Atomic Blonde is cool, calm, and effortlessly compelling and, while it lacks the heart and intrigue of its spiritual kin, John Wick, it’s an incredibly fun ride nonetheless. Twelve years on from announcing herself to the blockbuster masses, Atomic Blonde should finally wipe away any lingering doubts left in the wake of Aeon Flux, and elevate Theron back to the top, where she belongs.