Lowcountry movie watch: Charlize Theron goes ‘Atomic’ and ‘The Emoji Movie’ hits the big screen

Charlize Theron is a secret agent on the hunt for answers, Casey Affleck haunts his wife, and for reasons that defy logic entirely, someone adapted the emojis on your phone into a feature film. Meanwhile, new trailers see Steven Spielberg going virtual and Matt Damon going off on the mob. All that in this week’s Lowcountry movie watch.

New Movies

Atomic Blonde

“Atomic Blonde” director David Leitch got his start co-directing the original “John Wick”, and by all accounts he brought his eye for hyper-stylized action violence with him to his first solo gig. Charlize Theron plays the titular blonde, an MI6 agent sent to Berlin to investigate the death of an undercover agent. As is often the case in these situations, no one can be trusted, and many people are shot, stabbed, bludgeoned and otherwise dispatched on Theron’s way to the truth.

The film is certainly ambitious in its action scenes, which are intense, brutal and entertaining. Characters are not indestructible, and are actually physically affected by the violence they inflict on each other. That said, the film’s plot is incredibly convoluted and hard to follow at times, and aside from Theron and John Goodman as a CIA operative, nobody in the amazing cast stands out.

The effort the movie expends to seem effortlessly cool is painfully obvious and inauthentic. A soundtrack littered with all the best pop and punk music of the ’80s can’t hide the fact that this is a standard-issue spy thriller trading James Bond’s suit for a leather jacket and torn jeans. It isn’t a bad movie, just a mediocre one that soars in its action scenes and falls short pretty much everywhere else.

Cinemark Bluffton

10:40 a.m. 1:30 p.m. 4:25 p.m. 7:20 p.m. 10:15 p.m.

Northridge Theater

1:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 6:50 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 9:50 p.m.

Park Plaza Cinema

11:00 a.m. 1:50 p.m. 4:35 p.m. 7:10 p.m. 9:45 p.m.

Plaza Stadium Theater

11:45 a.m. 2:10 p.m. 4:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 9:25 p.m.

The Emoji Movie

This completely necessary film (😒), set inside a cell phone, tells the story of a young emoji capable of making multiple expressions who goes on a quest to become a single expression “meh” emoji like his parents. Will he learn that what makes him different also makes him special along the way? One can only assume. The cast for “The Emoji Movie” is impressive to say the least, with T.J. Miller, Anna Farris, James Corden, Patrick Stewart and Steven Wright among their ranks. Equally impressive is how their talents appear to have been wasted. The film currently holds a 0 percent rating on movie review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, which makes sense, as the “highlight” of the trailer involves Stewart’s poo emoji chanting “we’re No. 2” with his son. Get it? There are lots of bright lights and pretty colors though, so maybe especially undemanding small children might enjoy it.

Cinemark Bluffton

3D: 4:25 p.m. 9:35 p.m.

Non-3D: 11:15 a.m. 1:50 p.m. 7:00 p.m.

Northridge Theater

3D: 1:45 p.m. 8:30 p.m.

Non-3D: 1:00 p.m. 3:05 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 5:10 p.m. 6:15 p.m.

Park Plaza Cinema

3D: 9:00 p.m.

Non-3D: 10:10 a.m. 12:20 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 4:40 p.m. 6:50 p.m.

Plaza Stadium Theater

12:00 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. 9:00 p.m.

A Ghost Story

Academy Award winner Casey Affleck plays a man who dies and returns to his home to haunt his wife, but is stuck in the house after she leaves and bears witness to the lives of different occupants over the course of several decades, while also trying to communicate with a ghost that lives next door. Critics have lauded the film for its strange and hypnotic tone and thoughtful exploration of loss.

Cinemark Bluffton

12:10 p.m. 2:40 p.m. 5:10 p.m. 7:40 p.m. 10:10 p.m.

New Trailers

Ready Player One

In the not-too-distant future, overpopulation has turned the world’s cities into slums, and people escape into a virtual network called OASIS for entertainment, school and work. When the creator of the OASIS dies, his fortune and his company are offered as prizes in a massive virtual game, and one teenager is determined to win. Steven Spielberg directs this adaptation of Ernest Cline’s classic sci-fi novel, which was co-written by Cline himself. Tye Sheridan, Mark Rylance, T.J. Miller, Olivia Cooke and Simon Pegg star. Coming March 30.

Suburbicon

George Clooney directed this dark crime comedy, which was originally written by “Fargo” and “Big Lebowski” creators Joel and Ethan Coen more than 30 years ago. The film stars Matt Damon as a man who swears revenge after his debt to the mob leads to his wife’s murder. In typical Coen fashion, the humor looks as absurd as it is pitch dark. Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac co-star. Coming Oct. 27.

This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Lowcountry movie watch: Charlize Theron goes ‘Atomic’ and ‘The Emoji Movie’ hits the big screen."