Theron is up to the task during final days of Cold War in ‘Atomic Blonde’

Charlize Theron — Action Star — has a nice ring to it.

She’s shown to be capable of the challenges. When “Mad Max: Fury Road” is mentioned, Theron’s tough Furiosa comes to mind before Tom Hardy’s Max. Earlier this year, her Cipher proved to be a worthy adversary for Dom Toretto and his group in the latest “Fast and Furious” adventure. Granted, she did get crushed to death in “Prometheus,” but that is just a blip on Theron’s most recent kick-ass filmography.

Now, as British MI6 undercover agent Lorraine Broughton in “Atomic Blonde,” Theron has made a case that this secret agent / espionage gig is not just for guys like James Bond, et al.

“Atomic Blonde” is a blast from start to finish with plenty of action and intrigue along with a sensational soundtrack that resurrects some great sounds of the 1980s.

The music is appropriate, as “Atomic Blonde,” based upon the Oni Press graphic novel “The Coldest City” by Antony Johnston and illustrated by Sam Hart, takes place in 1989 during the tumultuous days in Germany when the Berlin Wall finally is torn down.

When an MI6 agent is murdered in Berlin, Broughton is sent to Germany to investigate as well as recover a vital list that contains names of double agents, a valuable commodity that the West obviously does not want to fall into enemy hands.

When Broughton is first seen, it appears she had a tough day on the job. Sporting a black right eye and with bruises all over her body, she looks like she should be on the disabled list and due for a long rehab. Instead she dresses and shows up at the office to attend a debriefing conducted by her superior, Eric Gray (Toby Jones) while Chief C (James Faulkner) and a CIA honcho, Emmitt Kurzfeld (John Goodman), listen in.

This is in the immediate aftermath of her mission to Berlin, and it appears it did not go well.

“Atomic Blonde” unfolds via flashbacks as Broughton recalls to Gray and the others what happened in Berlin.

Like every spy or espionage caper, there are twists and turns all over the place, laced with distrust and betrayal. Broughton had been advised beforehand to not trust anyone yet is told she has to hook up with an agent named David Percival (James McAvoy), someone she has never worked with before. McAvoy seems to have carried over one or two of his many personalities from “Split” as he has his hands in a lot of questionable stuff.

Meanwhile, Broughton is being followed by Delphine Lasalle (Sofia Boutella), a surveillance that isn’t too discreet, as Lorraine is quite aware she is being shadowed. Eventually they hook up but Broughton stays on mission and remains wary of Delphine.

Almost from the moment she sets foot on the ground in Berlin, Broughton is chased, shot at and having to engage in some brutal hand-to-hand combat with members of the KGB.

A shout-out is worthy here to the entire stunt staff. John Valera, fight coordinator; Greg Rementer, fight choreography team leader; Lilla Nemeth, stunt department coordinator; Florian Hotz, stunt coordinator in Germany; Sam Hargrave, stunt coordinator; and Monique Ganderton, assistant stunt coordinator and stunt double for Theron, were responsible for leading an able crew in putting on film some of the best fight scenes witnessed in a while. While Ganderton no doubt did some of the more punishing stunts in place of Theron, there are moments when Theron clearly took some hard knocks for the team.

Director David Leitch, who is scheduled to direct “Deadpool 2,” is a veteran stuntman himself and proved he is capable of tackling the challenges of the next “Deadpool” adventure.

The screenplay by Kurt Johnstad (“300: Rise of an Empire” and “Act of Valor”) is well-crafted in providing just enough information to set up suspense and questions without revealing too much too fast. The result is a smart and fast-paced action thriller with Theron a solid foundation. As beat up as she is, she is poised to emerge from this chaos still on her feet, leaving a trail of vanquished.

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