Charlie's Angels entertains but does not surprise
By: Jillian Law
[email protected]
In 2019, it feels like everything we know, love, and grew up with is getting rebooted or remade. From The Lion King to Pet Sematary, no genre or film is safe from the current reboot culture. The strength (and success) of a reboot depends entirely on how what it does with the original materials. Reboots like Aladdin succeed because they recapture some of the magic of the original while adding fresh perspective and characterization. Other reboots like Men in Black: International fail because they feel like they have no purpose, adding nothing new to the franchise.
As a reboot, Charlie’s Angels falls somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t entirely work, but overall the film feels on par with its predecessors: the 1970s TV show, the 2000s films, and the short-lived 2010 TV reboot. In every iteration, Charlie’s Angels is campy fun, a light girl-power romp that readily spoofs action and spy films. The newest Charlie’s Angels film manages to do this while also placing the franchise firmly in a 2019 context.
In Charlie’s Angels, the Townsend Agency that manages the Angels has now gone international. Angels Sabine (played by Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska) are assigned to protect Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott), a scientist who creates Calisto, a clean energy technology that can also be weaponized. With the help of the Angels, Elena hopes to de-weaponize Calisto and stop it from being sold on the black market. However, it soon becomes clear that the Angels may also be facing a threat from inside their own organization.
Of the three Angels, Kristen Stewart gives the strongest performance. As Sabina, she seems to be the Angel having the most fun and basking in the ridiculousness that is the world of Charlie’s Angels. Balinska and Scott feels like they’re both actors in a more straightforward action movie, but Stewart knows exactly what kind of tone is needed for this universe. She makes weird, off-beat choices like checking out a girl at the gym that result in the film’s biggest laughs.
Scott, no stranger to reboots herself as one of the stars of Aladdin earliest this summer, plays Elena with the wide-eyed naivety that is expected of that type of character. Similarly, Balinska plays the straightforward former MI-6 agent with a certain kind of toughness. Next to Stewart, however, one would wish these characters had more personality. Luckily, as a trio, these girls somehow work as Angels.
Directed and written by Elizabeth Banks, Charlie’s Angels has some of the signature humor Banks is known for. As a director, Banks feels most comfortable in the comedic moments and in the moments between the three leads. Those shine in the film. The action scenes, however, could use a steadier head. Those sequences are choppy and often jarring to watch.
For all its attempts to modernize the franchise, Charlie’s Angels doesn’t feel like it’s actually doing anything new. The plot, beat-by-beat, feels like it could have come from any action movie. To its credit, Charlie’s Angels is an incredibly fun ride with an absolutely killer soundtrack. It’s just not a ride that many will feel to be necessary, and it’s hard to blame them.
[email protected]
In 2019, it feels like everything we know, love, and grew up with is getting rebooted or remade. From The Lion King to Pet Sematary, no genre or film is safe from the current reboot culture. The strength (and success) of a reboot depends entirely on how what it does with the original materials. Reboots like Aladdin succeed because they recapture some of the magic of the original while adding fresh perspective and characterization. Other reboots like Men in Black: International fail because they feel like they have no purpose, adding nothing new to the franchise.
As a reboot, Charlie’s Angels falls somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t entirely work, but overall the film feels on par with its predecessors: the 1970s TV show, the 2000s films, and the short-lived 2010 TV reboot. In every iteration, Charlie’s Angels is campy fun, a light girl-power romp that readily spoofs action and spy films. The newest Charlie’s Angels film manages to do this while also placing the franchise firmly in a 2019 context.
In Charlie’s Angels, the Townsend Agency that manages the Angels has now gone international. Angels Sabine (played by Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska) are assigned to protect Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott), a scientist who creates Calisto, a clean energy technology that can also be weaponized. With the help of the Angels, Elena hopes to de-weaponize Calisto and stop it from being sold on the black market. However, it soon becomes clear that the Angels may also be facing a threat from inside their own organization.
Of the three Angels, Kristen Stewart gives the strongest performance. As Sabina, she seems to be the Angel having the most fun and basking in the ridiculousness that is the world of Charlie’s Angels. Balinska and Scott feels like they’re both actors in a more straightforward action movie, but Stewart knows exactly what kind of tone is needed for this universe. She makes weird, off-beat choices like checking out a girl at the gym that result in the film’s biggest laughs.
Scott, no stranger to reboots herself as one of the stars of Aladdin earliest this summer, plays Elena with the wide-eyed naivety that is expected of that type of character. Similarly, Balinska plays the straightforward former MI-6 agent with a certain kind of toughness. Next to Stewart, however, one would wish these characters had more personality. Luckily, as a trio, these girls somehow work as Angels.
Directed and written by Elizabeth Banks, Charlie’s Angels has some of the signature humor Banks is known for. As a director, Banks feels most comfortable in the comedic moments and in the moments between the three leads. Those shine in the film. The action scenes, however, could use a steadier head. Those sequences are choppy and often jarring to watch.
For all its attempts to modernize the franchise, Charlie’s Angels doesn’t feel like it’s actually doing anything new. The plot, beat-by-beat, feels like it could have come from any action movie. To its credit, Charlie’s Angels is an incredibly fun ride with an absolutely killer soundtrack. It’s just not a ride that many will feel to be necessary, and it’s hard to blame them.