Atomic Blonde

A good time - saved by spectacular fight scenes, a colourful cast of supporting characters, and a great lead in Theron.

Even an actor as good as Theron can't turn a set of cynical commercial considerations into a character.

Charlize Theron works furiously to bring some small weight to a character so feathery she barely manages to remain attached to the screen.

You forget to breathe. More importantly, you forget to question the needlessly complicated layers of double-crossing that clog up the third act of an otherwise impressively lean piece of storytelling.

In a victory for style over substance, it forces the instincts to follow the plot and care about the characters to surrender to its and Theron's unrelenting cool.

What Theron sells superbly, as she did in Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, is, simply, ferocity.

The fight on the staircase, a single take that lasts several minutes, is a particular highlight. It draws humour from the violence, too, and James McAvoy is having a ball as an unhinged operative.

Leitch’s film lacks zip, zilch, and zero in the style department.

The talented cast and formal technique feel trampled by the overstylized and undermotivated narrative.

A textbook example of style over substance.