The trailer didn't look good so I didn't see this in the theater. My curiosity was peaked as I was a fan of the original TV show when I was a kid, and really enjoyed the first Charlie's Angel's movie, but Full Throttle, not so much, so I rented it. I understand with all the A-list stars doing TV shows it's hard to get them for films, I just expected bigger casting for this as it was a successful franchise. Jane, the Lucy Liu replacement is nice to look at but is about as bland as cardboard and her acting is not much better. When she was crying in a scene I thought she was faking it because it was so bad it seemed like a joke. Elena, who is the Drew Barrymore replacement looks like a Sarah Michelle Gellar knockoff with little of SMG's Buffy charm and quips. She's just kind of bland. She seems more suited for sit-coms where not as much is expected of her. I liked K Stew, and she had some moments in here, but, the script and the actresses she was working against didn't give her much to work with.
Basically, the way they've been doing movies for the past 5+ years of doing action sequence storyboards with the director, then hire a screenwriter later does not work. Movies have just been sucking hard. I find so many action films frivolous and boring. I haven't outgrown them, 'cause every once in a while there will be a good one, like John Wick, or a fun one, like the Jumanji reboot. This was pretty light on action for an Angels movie and the action there was you couldn't see any of it 'cause all the shots were tight. And the weird scene with the gatlin gun in the Jeep was just the villain taking a shot, then Jane, then villain, then back and forth. It was really poorly done and I'm not buying anyone would go to such extremes to kill a civilian like Elena. It came off very cartoonish.
The only scene in the entire movie I liked was when all the girls dressed alike. That was fun. But that was it. I was just bored. I didn't want to finish it but I did. They really hammered the whole girl power, men are pigs thing a bit too much. It's like, I get it. It would have been nice to give the audience a little more credit that we don't need a hammer to the head. I found it more regressive than progressive. Funny that I feel like the one from 19 years ago was more empowering than this one that clearly was supposed to be a feminist trope. The 2000 version had villains but it wasn't men bad women good. The 2019 version was much too female neanderthal for my taste.
And what was with all the killing and deaths? I don't remember anyone dying in the old versions. Charlie's Angels is supposed to be fun and light. Definitely not appropriate for young girls, which is when I was first introduced to the franchise. It's a shame. Take away, despite the Pitch Perfect franchise being fantastic, and Elizabeth Banks a really talented actress, action is not for everybody. Comedy and action films are made very differently and you need to understand stunts, storyboarding, VFX, green screens, etc. There's a lot more to it. I just think she took on too much before she was ready. I would like to see more of her work, this was just not a win. I did like her in Brightburn. Now, that was much better than expected.
