CHARLIE’S ANGELS (2019) Review
Looking through the IMDb credits for the original Charlie’s Angels television series, you realize something pretty interesting. The series, which of course centered on a team of crime-fighting women, ran for 115 episodes and yet not a single one was directed by a female filmmaker. Similarly, the first two feature films, released in 2000 and 2003, were both directed by a man. I bring this up only to illustrate the point that we’ve come a long way since the 1970s and even since the early 2000s. We’re living in a time where big budget movies about women can actually be directed by women (what an idea!), and it’s pretty great to finally have that option on the table.
Enter Elizabeth Banks, who made her mark on the enduring Charlie’s Angels franchise with last year’s reboot, a film that the actress and Pitch Perfect 2 director also wrote. Loosely connecting to the two previous films in a fun little callback moment early on, Banks’ take on Charlie’s Angels introduces a brand new crew of crime-fighters: Kristen Stewart’s Sabina Wilson, Ella Balinska’s Jane Kano and Naomi Scott’s rookie newcomer Elena Houghlin.
With Banks herself pulling triple duty as the crew’s Bosley, one of many Bosleys helping one of many Angels teams around the world, the gang embarks on a globe-trotting mission to thwart the plans of an evil mastermind in possession of a high-tech energy conservation device that can be easily exploited to assassinate anyone in its path of influence.
Remember that scene in McG’s Charlies Angels: Full Throttle where the scantily-clad Angels perform a striptease? Not that there’s anything wrong with that particular scene but that was a different Charlie’s Angels from a different time, and it’s pretty clear right off the bat that Elizabeth Banks is more interested in using her version of the franchise to empower women rather than sexualize them. The overall theme of her film, not unlike Rian Johnson’s “anyone can be a hero” approach to The Last Jedi, is that anyone can be an Angel, and being an Angel above all else means being part of a sisterhood that’s as much about love and acceptance as it is kicking ass.
Charlie’s Angels 2019 is a more grown-up take on the franchise, you could say, but that doesn’t mean Banks has any self-serious delusions about what she’s doing here. Her Charlie’s Angels is fast-paced, high energy fun that’s never taking itself too seriously, packed with all the laughs, action sequences and outfit changes that one should probably go into a Charlie’s Angels movie expecting. Banks blends comedy and action incredibly well, all with a winking embrace of the light-hearted escapism that’s inherent to this particular pop culture brand.
The cast is great, with Naomi Scott playing the role of the excited newcomer who’s not quite sure if she fits in but definitely wants to try, and Ella Balinska playing the former MI6 veteran who takes the job a tad bit more seriously than her partner-in-crime, Sabina. It’s Kristen Stewart who unsurprisingly steals the whole show as Sabina, the wild card and comedic relief of the group. Reminding of Kate McKinnon’s standout performance in Ghostbusters, Stewart is pure magic in Charlie’s Angels, bringing a whole lot of laughs, charm and wacky personality along with her. The movie is probably at its best whenever Stewart is on screen, clearly relishing the chance to show off her comedic chops, and thankfully she’s rarely not on it.
In the action department, the PG-13 Charlie’s Angels certainly has no chance of capturing the raw brutality that recent action films like John Wick and Birds of Prey were able to, but the action sequences — which include a car chase, a foot chase, a horse chase and a standout sequence at a rock quarry — are well-shot and well-choreographed, and Banks isn’t afraid to push that rating with some pretty nasty bits of violence. Banks, who has a history with the horror genre dating back to creature feature Slither and last year’s gory horror-superhero movie Brightburn, has clearly picked up a few influences from the genre over the years, with two kills in particular — bloodless as they might be — standing out as being relatively unexpected in a PG-13 action-comedy such as this. Most importantly, the action is always fun to watch.
Even more important than the action, however, is the chemistry between the three Angels at the center of the movie, and that’s where the “female gaze” inherent to Elizabeth Banks being at the helm really comes into play. Charlie’s Angels is something of an origin story, set during the earliest days of the trio’s crime-fighting adventures, and they’re such a fun gang that it’s a bummer the film under-performed at the box office last year because that likely means we won’t be seeing them on screen together again in the future. Banks allows her leading characters to be smart, sexy, funny, flawed, awkward and goofy, and there’s a clear bond and camaraderie that bleeds through whenever they’re sharing the screen. A couple well-placed emotional beats, one involving an injured Angel and the other involving a potential future Angel, really help to tie the whole thing together and endear us to the main characters.
The supporting cast is great here as well, with Patrick Stewart getting to cut loose a bit and have some fun as John Bosley and Luis Gerardo Méndez bringing the laughs as Saint, tasked with looking after the overall health and mental/physical well-being of the Angels. It’s also great to see Jonathan Tucker in the mix as villain Hodak, one bad dude who’s imposing without ever saying a word. Tucker remains something of an under-used gem in Hollywood, first coming onto my radar as Morgan in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). Highlighting Tucker’s range, Hodak is a polar opposite character, and I’d love to see him leading his own action movie someday. Even with limited screen-time in Charlie’s Angels, he proves he’s up to the task.
The climax of Charlie’s Angels is admittedly a bit abrupt, but there’s something to be said for a franchise-starter that leaves you wanting more. And though it again must be noted that the movie isn’t likely to spawn sequels any time soon, I for one would love to someday see Banks, Stewart, Balinska and Scott reunite for the continuing adventures of the Angels. This attempt at a reboot is as entertaining as you could probably ever wish for it to be, with a 2-hour runtime that flies by thanks to the high-energy approach to the storytelling. With a good soundtrack as the cherry on top, Charlie’s Angels deserves more love than it got last year.
At the very least, we need a whole lot more of this Kristen Stewart.
