You can’t say that the first trailer for the upcoming spy action movie Atomic Blonde doesn’t know how to sell itself to an audience. In one three-minute blast of red band goodness (this is thoroughly NSFW, if the red band warning didn’t indicate it), the film’s bloody first trailer follows Charlize Theron as she:
— beats the hell out of a pair of goons in one unbroken shot
— drags Toby Jones and John Goodman’s agents
— uses everyday objects to harm/kill people in ways that would make Jason Bourne proud
— enjoys the company of an attractive French operative
— punches, kicks, and otherwise assaults her way through Berlin
— drinks vodka pensively, as any good movie spy is wont to do
— prevents the assassination of top-level agents
That last part drives the plot of Atomic Blonde, as Theron’s MI6 spy Lorraine Broughton is tasked with tracking down and stopping an espionage ring in 1989, as the Berlin Wall is on the verge of being demolished, with the help of a German station chief (James McAvoy). Directed by David Leitch, who co-directed the first John Wick and is next attached to helm Deadpool 2, the film looks to marry the clandestine intrigue of spycraft with the bracing hand-to-hand violence that’s made Wick an audience favorite. Meanwhile, Theron has a good year ahead of her between Blonde and The Fate of the Furious, continuing her Fury Road momentum in reinventing herself as an action hero of elite caliber. (If the trailer is any indication, there might also be a dash of the hilariously self-aware camp she found in her Huntsman performances as well.)
(Read: A Complete Guide to Comic Book Movies in 2017)
And hey, if you can’t get into the spot-on, winking use of “Killer Queen”, maybe the Wick-level barrage of headshots will do it. Based on Antony Johnson’s graphic novel The Coldest City, Atomic Blonde will be released on July 28th, but will have its world premiere at South By Southwest this weekend; check back with CoS for our early review next week.
Update: As Pitchfork points out, the trailer is soundtracked by a cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday” as performed by HEALTH.
