Charlie’s Angels movie review

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 58 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: C-

IN A NUTSHELL:

This is yet one more iteration of the popular 1970s Charlie’s Angels TV series. The femme fatale action flick is directed and acted by Elizabeth Banks. She also wrote the screenplay for the movie from a story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn. While there are some entertaining moments and earnest efforts, this “woke” version doesn’t have the charm or heart we were hoping for.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Sexual and obscene gestures and innuendos
Lots of cleavage and skin, as well as sheer fabric that reveals women’s chests
Lots of violence (hand-to-hand combat, various kinds of guns). Past movies of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle used mostly martial arts (partly because Drew Barrymore insisted on no guns) but this version features a lot of weapons.
Some people die brutal deaths, often times with blood splatter
1 spoken F-bomb and 1 typed F-bomb, name-calling, 16 religious exclamations
Some French with subtitles and some German with no subtitles
You see a van filled with women’s hygiene products
Men talk in a condescending manner to women
Sounds of a woman vomiting
Alcohol
Bosley and the Angels talk about killing people very callously.

THEMES:

Gender roles, sexism, female empowerment. This is the first time a female plays Bosley (Elizabeth Banks), which also represents a former Angel getting that leadership “rank.”
Power, greed, revenge
Murder
Betrayal
Clean energy technology
Aging
Courage

THINGS I LIKED:

Who doesn’t love Patrick Stewart? You get to see pictures of him in younger years with some of the past Angels. Unfortunately, he is terribly underutilized in this film.
Kristen Stewart has some great potential as a sexy action star.
I love little Easter eggs for fans. For example, that blue race car outfit and German outfit in that closet are both from the 2000 Charlie’s Angels.
Rumor has it that Ella Baliinska did most of her own stunts.
Ariana Grande produced the soundtrack for the movie. The first single for the movie is Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s Angels) with Ariana, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey.
You get to travel with the Angels to exotic places like Istanbul, which was the cast’s favorite location during the filming. I’d love to go there someday.
I need an assistant like the character “Saint” to take care of me like he did the Angels!
I’m a sucker for twists. I enjoyed the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes the most.
I’m also a sucker for surprise endings, cameos, and outtakes. Be sure to keep watching after the last scene when the rolling credits begin.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

A lot of the humor doesn’t land at all.
It’s kind of like reverse discrimination where men are brainless pawns to be exploited. They’re also almost all bad guys, of course.
The Angels didn’t have much chemistry together. They just seemed like three girls wandering around on their own missions.
There is nothing new to a plot we haven’t seen a million times before.
Elizabeth Banks loves the day-drinking and puts herself in almost every scene with the politically correct Angels. Should the movie be about the Angels and not her? Don’t get me wrong…I like her. I thought she was hilarious and perfectly placed in the Pitch Perfect trilogy.
Some terrible transitions.
How about a blonde or redhead Angel for some variety?
Some acting moments are pretty bad.
A lot of the action sequences show dumb men just standing there while the Angels smack them around. This ain’t no sophisticated John Wick choreography.
The dance scene was pointless and not very good.
Cliched monologuing villains.

FUNNY LINES:

“Honey, a man can love you and want to kill you.” – Boz (Elizabeth Banks)
“Ben Affleck is Batman.” – Saint (Luis Gerardo Mendez) “I don’t know. Is he?” – Boz

INTERESTING LINES: