One of the joys of the original John Wick was how out-of-left field its success was. At the time I completely dismissed the idea of action star Keanu Reeves, and viewed the trailers for his latest project as a desperate, silly stab at relevancy, one destined to bomb at the box office and never be heard from again. Suffice to say, I was completely wrong, and now John Wick is one of my favorite action franchises currently running.
Comparatively, Atomic Blonde (formerly The Coldest City) is not nearly as far off my radar. In fact, I had it on my (sadly not published) list of most anticipated films of 2017. At the time it was strictly because it was going to be directed by David Leich, the second half of the directing team that made the first John Wick such a success. But now that a trailer has arrived for the film, I have to say: I want this film injected into my veins. Right fucking now.
When I first read the premise of Atomic Blonde, I figured it would be more of a spy thriller than a John Wick-esque action romp. I was fine with that idea (I like both genres, after all), but watching this trailer, it’s pretty damn clear my initial impressions were totally off base. This looks like a delightfully fun, pulpy action movie, one that clearly has the involvement of one of the John Wick guys. And, honestly? I have no complaints about that whatsoever. After loving John Wick so much, I am more than happy getting more of the same. And the involvement of Charlize Theron, the spy elements, and the exotic location gets me even more excited.
It also helps that this trailer in and of itself is fantastic. It starts really unconventionally with the long, elaborate fight scene, but right away pulled me in. And by the time the “Killer Queen” music set in and the action just got crazy and crazier, I was already beaming from ear to ear. Sure, it might just be because I’m a sucker for anything involving Queen, but this trailer worked completely on me, and I’ve watched it nearly a dozen times already. Last time I did that for a movie? John Wick: Chapter 2. Yeah, I’m thinking I’m excited for this one.
Atomic Blonde will hit theaters right in the height of summer, on July 28. But, before then, some lucky motherfuckers will get the chance to watch the film first at a special South by Southwest screening tonight. Let the hype commence in a few hours, I assume.
Also published on Medium.
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