Charlie's Angels

CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY: The Angels need to protect an engineer who finds herself in danger when she discovers a flaw in a technology that could be weaponized.

CHARLIE'S ANGELS REVIEW: Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott) is a skilled engineer developing a new technology that could provide clean energy wirelessly. But she also finds a defect that could be exploited to incapacitate, or even kill a person. After Elena tries to alert her boss to no avail, she finds herself being hunted by a deadly assassin. But Charlie’s Angels manage to rescue her and decide to recruit her into the elite Townsend Agency, where highly trained women take on the dangerous world of private investigation.

Nearly two decades since the big-screen adaptation of the popular TV franchise of the same name, director and writer Elizabeth Banks re-imagines ‘Charlie’s Angels’ for a younger female audience. The tonality gets a major revamp – gone is the sexist approach; this film’s women empowerment message is practically spelt out from the get-go. This also translates into how the characters relate to each other and materializes with girl power kicking butt throughout. The problem is that the action scenes aren’t too inventive or executed with the kind of finesse audiences are now used to. Additionally, the comedic elements don’t work as well as the script intends, making for some awkward moments that fall flat.

Unfortunately, this takes away the efforts of the three leads. Kristen Stewart particularly bears the brunt, as most of the witty one-liners are tasked to her. Stewart still manages to be enchanting as the quirky, energetic and courageous Sabina. Naomi Scott is endearing as the well-meaning, fish-out-of-water nerd Elena, while Ella Balinska holds her own as the no-nonsense, tough-as-nails Jane. Elizabeth Banks herself is a worthy Bosley, but it should come as no surprise that Patrick Stewart really stands out as a retired employee, also a Bosley, of the Townsend agency. The film comes across as an overly produced music video for its much-hyped soundtrack and this weighs the screenplay down, especially in the first half. Things pick up towards the end, as some character arcs begin to pay off. It's probably a little too late by then, but that’s when the film goes into ‘entertaining’ territory. The female-centric messaging of this new ‘Charlie’s Angels’ is well-intended, but the execution doesn’t always do it justice.