Charlie's Angels movie review (2019)
Of course, the clothes are great: racks of shimmery, sequined knockouts and rows of fierce pumps. And it wouldn’t be a “Charlie’s Angels” adventure without a variety of wild costumes for the ladies to don for their undercover assignments as well as an assortment of high-tech gadgets. (The Altoids that aren’t really Altoids are handy.) But Banks—who’s swaddled in a range of luxurious coats and sunglasses herself as the Angels’ subtly wisecracking Bosley—is more interested in what those kinds of outfits symbolize when you’re woman, and how the exterior image can be used as a means of manipulation. As a woman directing a “Charlie’s Angels” movie (following the early 2000s offerings from McG), her gaze reflects her deep appreciation of female power.
This much is clear from the film’s opening sequence in which a platinum-wigged Kristen Stewart (who runs away with this movie—more on that later) seduces a shady businessman over dinner in all the most obviously flirtatious ways. The fact that he has no idea she’s slowly but surely tying him up in literal knots is a testament to her skills but also his idiocy. Men can be malleable, and the women of “Charlie’s Angels” know how to use that to their advantage.
The actual crime solving seems secondary—and truthfully, the doo-dad that drives the narrative in Banks’ script couldn’t be more McGuffin-y. It’s a hand-held device that, in theory, is a revolutionary and Earth-friendly means of generating energy. But in the wrong hands, it could also be used as a weapon. Dun dun dunnnn!
Established Angels Sabina (Stewart as a bad-girl heiress) and former MI6 agent Jane (the commanding and charismatic stunner Ella Balinska) team up with the brilliant, young engineer who devised the technology and blew the whistle on its possible improper use to keep bad guys from stealing it for their own nefarious purposes. Elena (Naomi Scott of the live-action “Aladdin”) is our conduit into this glamorous and dangerous world, but her scientific strengths also provide just the right complement for this team. If the statuesque Jane is the all-business brawn and Sabina is the quick-witted, wild-card decoy, Elena is the exceedingly capable brains of the operation, and it doesn’t take her long to get up to speed.
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