"She Could Do Twenty Moves Without Cutting": Charlize Theron Is A Certified Bada$$

By Tori Preston | Film | July 11, 2017 |

By Tori Preston | Film | July 11, 2017 |

We are mere weeks away from finally getting our grubby little eyeballs on Atomic Blonde, the Cold War action flick directed by David Leitch (John Wick) and starring Charlize Theron, her fists, her feet, her elbows, and James McAvoy. And in case the trailers didn’t already have everyone primed, Universal went ahead and whipped up a lil behind the scenes piece focusing on the fight training. Well, really it focuses on how incredible Charlize Theron is as beating people up.

They could shoot the fights in long takes without cutting! She could remember more than three moves at a time! She is in the upper echelon of action stars!

So… why did they name the featurette “Fight Like A Girl”? From what I could tell, she fights like a goddamn professional. I get that they are attempting some sexism-inversion, like “take what you think you know about how girls fight and throw it out the window because DAAAAMN lookit Charlize go!” And it works. But have we really not progressed beyond the point of being surprised that women can kick ass?

It’s not just that we literally have Gal Gadot and Wonder Woman fresh in our minds. We live in a world that’s given us Buffy and all her slayers. We have the ladies on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Michelle Yeoh, Milla Jovovich, Scarlet Johansson, Sofia Boutella, Michelle Rodriguez, Linda Hamilton. We live in a world with Sigourney motherfuckin “Ripley” Weaver.

So yes. I’ma take “Fight Like A Girl” as a compliment.

Also, side note: Sofia Boutella also stars in Atomic Blonde as Delphine, who has some sexy-time fun with Theron. So… is “Delphine” a nod to Cosima’s lover on Orphan Black? Or am i just reading too much into a lovely-sounding name?