“Charlie’s Angels:” Franchise Reboot


Melanie Barry, Staff Writer

According to box office, the new “Charlie’s Angels” was Hollywood’s newest failure. It opened with $8.6 million this weekend, whereas the two 2000s movies opened in the $200 millions. However, numbers like those are pretty irrelevant if you thoroughly enjoyed the movie, which I did.

Starring Kristen Stewart (Sabina), Naomi Scott (Elena), and Ella Balinska (Jane), directed by Elizabeth Banks (Rebecca/Bosley), the movie was fun, intense, and made me pump my fist in the air and whisper “yes!” Being a Hollywood action movie, it had your typical “there’s no way every single one of those bullets missed her” and “how does she look so cool doing that,” but a little leeway in the realistic-human-capabilities area kept the movie rolling at a fast pace.

I went into it expecting some uncomfortable acting, but I was actually very impressed. SPOILER ALERT: Stewart and Balinska performed a touching scene when Sabina was badly injured and Jane was afraid she would lose her. There was very good fake crying from both of them. As for Scott, when getting kidnapped by the Angels, she did some very convincing screaming.

In the second half of the movie, Sabina, Elena, and Jane fight the villains they have been tracking in a rock quarry. Sabina is stuck in a pit full of rocks while fighting a bad guy. Red lights start flashing, the rocks are starting to get crushed, and everything is grey. This had to be the most striking visual scene of the movie, as well as a good edge-of-your seat moment.

As for the aspect of feminism, I would not be surprised if this was the most feminist movie of 2019. Elena is a scientist who is trying to bring to light a flaw in the technology she invented, but her superiors (all men) keep her quiet. All of the bad guys were men, and all the good gals were women (except for Noah Centineo, but that goes without saying since he’s an angel – no pun intended). SPOILER ALERT: At the climax of the movie, the three spies are surrounded by enemies and it seems there is no way out. Then the lights go out, and when they turn back on, all of the men are on the ground and the women who took them out (who turn out to all be Angels) are standing heroically. The girls share a moment as Elena realizes these women have been watching out for her the whole time.

Overall, I would not say it was a must see, but I’m definitely glad I went, and I would recommend it specifically to pre-teens and teens.