Charlie's Angels review

CHARLIE’S ANGELS:

THESE GIRLS CAN KICK BUTT AND REBOOT A FRANCHISE IN STYLE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinska, and Naomi Scott in Charlie’s Angels (2019)

            Good morning Angels, the popular Charlie’s Angels franchise has been reborn in the new reboot directed by Elizabeth Banks (Spider-Man trilogy, Pitch Perfect trilogy, Power Rangers (2017)) of the Charlie’s Angels duology which starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as the Angels, and was based on the TV series of the same name that ran from 1976 to 1981. The first Charlie’s Angels movie released in 2000 is undeniably flawed and cheesy but still fun to watch, it’s action-packed, funny, and features three beautiful women kicking butt, a very nostalgic action film of mine as a kid and a hit at the box-office, which led to a sequel in 2003.

            The sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle however while it was nice to see Diaz, Barrymore, and Liu back together, it was tainted with laughably bad action sequences, a lazily rehashed plot, and painfully unfunny humor with the late Bernie Mac desperately trying to get a laugh. I’ll give the first film credit for as dumb as it is, I can at least have a fun time watching it, cannot do that with Full Throttle, sequel sucks moving on.

            Now we have this reboot/continuation of the series with Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga, On the Road,Underwater), Ella Balinska (Casualty, Midsomer Murders), and Naomi Scott (Terra Nova, Power Rangers (2017), Aladdin (2019)) as a new trio of Angels off to save the world. The film looked promising by the trailers, nothing that screamed “Must See” but it looked fun and like the 2000 film, features three gorgeous and talented ladies as the leads. 

            So, can these new Angels fix the sins of Full Throttle and make a fun Charlie’s Angels movie, or will it become another polarizing Sony reboot like the 2016 Ghostbusters or downright terrible like this year’s Men in Black: International? Thankfully, it isn’t the latter. 

            While it doesn’t do much new with the franchise, Charlie’s Angels (2019) is still a sexy, fun action flick with a lot of laughs, glamour, and plenty of callbacks and references to the earlier films and TV series for fans while still being entertaining on its own.

            The film follows three women, wild and rebellious Sabina (Stewart), former MI-6 agent who shoots first and asks questions later Jane (Balinska) and their newest recruit Elena (Scott) who work undercover as secret agents codenamed Angels for the mysterious Charlie Townsend (voiced by Robert Clotworthy-Ancient Aliens, The Curse of Oak Island, StarCraft (video game series)). Prior to meeting the Angels, Elena worked for tech entrepreneur Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin-Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hunger Games franchise, Me Before You) on an energy conservation device known as Callisto which has a potentially dangerous design flaw, it causes fatal seizures when used, big shock Brock and Elena’s superior Peter Fleming (Nat Faxon-Ben and Kate, Married, Disenchantment) decide to cover it up and release it to the public (You can pretty much tell where this is going). 

            The Angels’ mission from Charlie’s assistant Bosley (Banks) is to retrieve the Callisto device from Brock and Fleming before it falls into the wrong hands and Callisto can be weaponized. In order to succeed the Angels must use their wits, skills, and gadgets supplied by their trusty weapons and tech specialist simply known as The Saint (Luis Gerardo Méndez-The Noble Family, Cantinflas, Club de Cuervos) to shut Callisto down and save the world. 

            The film also stars Djimon Hounsou (How to Train Your Dragon 2, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shazam!) as Edgar, Noah Centineo (The Fosters, How to Build a Better Boy, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) as Langston, Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men franchise, Green Room) as John Bosley who was previously portrayed by Bill Murray in the first film, Jonathan Tucker (The Virgin Suicides, Justified, Westworld) as Hodak, Chris Pang (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, Crazy Rich Asians) as Jonny Smith, and Hannah Hoekstra (Hemel, The Canal, The Fury) as Ingrid.

            Overall, Charlie’s Angels (2019) doesn’t really do much new with the spy movie formula but there is enough charm, humor, and thrilling action sequences to keep you entertained whether a fan of the source material or not. I’ll always have a soft spot for the first movie and its corny early-2000s fun, but this is a solid update of Charlie’s Angelsthat never goes too far with being trendy and current.

            While Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu will always have a place in my heart and are the definitive Angels in my opinion (I never really watched the show that much…sorry guys), Stewart, Scott, and Balinska knock it out of the park as the Angels in this movie. None of them portray the same Angels Diaz, Barrymore, and Liu played in the other movies, they pretty much take the Ghostbusters (2016), Men in Black: International, and MJ from the MCU Spider-Man movies route and make their own characters just for the film, but they still manage to retain the confident, badass, and at times quirky spirit of the Angels from the previous movies and TV show. 

            Kristen Stewart is really well casted as Sabina, she’s a bit of a ditz and very eccentric and hyper making jokes that don’t always land but enough do to get a laugh, but she’s still confident in what she does. Almost like a Bizarro Bella Swan, she has this kind and bubbly personality that’s both adorable and obnoxious and while she makes a lot of bad jokes Stewart at least delivers them in a funny way and a good half of her jokes not only made me laugh but made me laugh hard, Bella Swan made me laugh…intentionally. 

            Of course, the other Angels are a lot of fun to watch as well, Ella Balinska as this stone-cold badass who could break your neck if you look at her funny, it sounds like she’s enjoying her performance and delivering this dry sense of humor. Naomi Scott I’ll flat out say it might be a heartthrob of mine (Okay, her Jasmine performance helped too!) because she looks good in just about anything and like the other Angels she kicks butt while cracking some jokes, she’s probably the Angel who impacts the plot the most because she worked on the device that the bad guys want. 

            Elizabeth Banks as Bosley is very different compared to Bill Murray from the first film or Bernie Mac from Full Throttle as she plays the part more like Nick Fury or Ben Affleck’s Batman where she’s there to assemble the team and give them their mission. I guess it helps make Bosley seem a little more mysterious compared to earlier incarnations and Banks does a solid job portraying her.

            Charlie’s Angels (2019) is a mostly average spy film made a lot better by the charm of its talented leads. If you’re a fan of the TV series and/or the movies from the 2000s or just looking for some dumb popcorn fun, then call these Angels and you’ll have a blast.