Charlize Theron Kicks All the Asses in New “Atomic Blonde” Trailer

David Leitch practically re-invented modern American action movies when he and Chad Stahelski released John Wick, which starred Keanu Reeves as the plainspoken hitman out for revenge. The former stuntman now looks like he's cranking it up a notch with Atomic Blonde, based on the comic book The Coldest City.

Charlize Theron, who also reinvented herself into an action heroine with Mad Max: Fury Road, plays Lorraine Broughton, a British spy trying to recover classified info in '80s Berlin. As the trailer reveals, she's as brutal as any assassin, and as clever as any spy we've seen over the years.

James McAvoy plays her partner in the troubled city, and Sofia Boutella slinks in as a French operative Lorraine gets to know, ahem, very well. The cast also includes great small-role players like John Goodman, Eddie Marsan and Toby Jones.

The film got a warm reception at SXSW last month, and this well-edited trailer seems to have a taken a cue from that fest's other big hit (Baby Driver) in syncing up the action with a perfectly selected song: a mash-up of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" and Kanye West's "Black Skinhead."

Atomic Blonde, which is absolutely rated R, opens July 28.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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