★
When a young systems engineer blows the whistle on a dangerous technology, Charlie's Angels are called into action, putting their lives on the line to protect us all.
Classification: 12A
After its first underwhelming action sequence where Kristen Stewart's enthusiastic performance is let down by poor scripting and humdrum camera work. The opening titles to this reboot Charlie's Angels become a montage of random girls and women performing athletics and other activities. With no connection to the plot or characters, this sequence is clearly a shallow declaration from director and star Elizabeth Banks that this film is all about girl power. That this film has artistic value solely because it stars women but it is, in fact, another poor example of Hollywood's attempt to capitalise on faux feminism, thinking it can protect all of the criticisms to bad filmmaking behind a supposed protective layer of "women". Charlie's Angels is an extremely frustrating film regardless of what gender is prevalent both on or offscreen as it is marred by forced awkward comedy, lifeless direction and boring action.
The approach to the film is so cynical and devoid of any fresh ideas as it revolves around a pretty typical doomsday plot that the Charlie's Angels team has to foil. The majority of the action and comedy setups do little to engage the audience as they watch Naomi Scott's character Elena Houghlin go from endangered scientist to rookie spy. The script doesn't have a great focus on building out character development or the formation of the new team. Even with the majority of the film focusing on Bank's Bosley working with the three leads on their investigation, there is no believable camaraderie. Kristen Stewart and Ella Balinska's characters seem to have a back and forth flirtatious rivalry during the action scenes but it is so undercooked that their reconciliation in the third act has no real impact. Most scenes boil down to a tepid action sequence in whatever new country the Angels had to travel too as Banks really struggles to pull the film out of its monotony.
Kristen Stewart is the most engaging performance of the film, seeming to have genuine fun in the role but is still hindered by the script. She's having a blast in all of the disguises and costumes, leading the charge as a quippy ass-kicker but most of the jokes don't land and leaves the film rooted in its embarrassing state. Scott is the worst victim of the film's brand of comedy, forcing her character to constantly be shocked or humiliated by the events around her until the story is ready for her to become the hero. Balinska appears as a solid action star performing her fight scenes against Jonathan Tucker's villain with much-needed ferocity but she too is let down by very poor character development. With her character arc relating to two underdeveloped relationships with other male characters that are barely in the film.
Charlie's Angels has the cast it needs to make it fun but the screenplay does everything it can to make the story and dialogue as banal and commonplace as possible. Throwing in cameos and references to the franchise's past doesn't legitimise this new version especially since the film doesn't even make the concept of this team interesting. The Townsend agency that the Angels work for has no visual or narrative flair beyond random cameos, making this world feel like another forgettable jaunt into lacklustre spydom. With the charisma of the actors bogged down by ill-executed themes, logic and filmmaking, the actual adventure is a tonally mismatched collection of underwhelming revelations and resolutions. The audience is unable to care about the return of Charlie's Angels because it does very little to make its return feel contemporary and necessary.
Charlie's Angels isn't a film that doesn't need to take itself seriously and deliver a stark examination of gender and politics to make itself relevant in the modern market. It can still be fun and ridiculous and be all about fun lady spies kicking ass and saving the world but the execution feels very derivative. It goes for low-brow, naive comedy and social commentary in its story and doesn't follow through with any idea it puts forward, the main issue being with how the film presents and utilises feminism. With no real work put into the characters or story, the idea of promoting girl power feels shallow and exploitative especially since nothing bothers to extend beyond the stereotypes.
Director: #ElizabethBanks
Cast: #KristenStewart, #NaomiScott, #EllaBalinska, #ElizabethBanks, #DjimonHounsou, #SamClaflin, #NoahCentineo, #PatrickStewart
Release Date: November 29th 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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