OMG, that scene on the stairway....

If you've seen the movie, you know the one I'm talking about. It looks like one long, seamless take, although filmmakers have revealed it's actually some 40 takes stitched together in a highly convincing bit of studio magic.

Atomic Blonde is Charlize Theron's Cold War answer to James Bond. A cold, calculating MI6 agent, she is beautiful, deadly, seductive and brutal, as circumstances warrant. But, unlike Bond -- who never looks anything less than polished -- Theron's superspy wears every bruise and blood spatter like a badge of courage.

Based on the graphic novel series, The Coldest City, the movie puts us in the heart of Berlin -- both East and West -- just days before the Wall came down. Theron, as spy Lorraine Broughton, is tasked with traveling to Berlin to collect the body of fallen agent James Gasciogne (Sam Hargrave) and, if possible, identify the mysterious double agent Satchel with the aid of Berlin operative David Percival (James McAvoy) and find a missing list of agents that, in the wrong hands, could put countless lives in jeopardy. (Yes, the missing list of agents is a plot that's been done before, but hey, it's a variation on a theme.)

She of course runs into trouble, heralded by the scenes that bookend the movie in a British interrogation room, where Broughton is being grilled by her immediate supervisor Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and CIA representative Emmett Kurzfeld (John Goodman).

You may well lose track along the way of who is double- or triple-crossing whom. There are a lot of twists and turns to follow, but it's worth the ride.

The movie is action-packed, bloody and stylish. The 1980s soundtrack is perfect (although most of the early '80s music is several years out of date for the 1989 setting). One might wish Theron occasionally showed more emotion -- she goes through the entire film in a monotone, like the depressing blue-gray palette of the cinematography -- but she gets the job done. She more than earns her chops as an action star here.

And did I mention the scene on the stairway?