Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017)

The setting is classic Cold War Berlin as the Wall starts to fall, the director was involved in the John Wick films and the superspy charged with finding a Stasi defector with a vital list of Western spies is Charlize Theron, who has an established history of badass roles. Putting all this together, it therefore comes as no surprise that the result is a hypercharged and ultraviolent affair with evil Russians thrown in for good measure as the principal antagonists, and little time for actual spy work. That said, the action sequences, of which there are so many that it's hard to catch breath between them, are exceptionally well choreographed, the soundtrack of '80s alt-rock classics that accompanies all the action is aptly chosen and James McAvoy, as her smirking, double-dealing MI6 colleague, offers his usual dependable support. Naturally, a sequel is in the pipeline.

6/10