Review: Charlie's Angels (2019)

Release date: November 15, 2019
Running time: 118 minutes
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska, Patrick Stewart, Elizabeth Banks

After 40 years of continued service and keeping Charlie's vision alive, John Bosley (Patrick Stewart) is ready to head into retirement after internationally running and training the Townsend Agency. Bosley is confident that the Agency is in good hands with some of his best. New Bosley (Elizabeth Banks) now steps up to work with this generation's angels: Sabina Wilson (Kristen Stewart), Jane Kano (Ella Balinska), and new recruit Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott), an engineer who developed the Calisto project, a clean and sustainable energy source that in the wrong hands could be catastrophic. The angels both take Elena under their wing and try to prevent this technology from getting into the wrong hands.

While this movie is a lot of fun and straight up silly at times, it contains a through line of female empowerment. And unlike other movies this year that attempted this but ended up reverting to the classic theme of the guy saving the day, Charlie's Angels stays true.  Female empowerment is relayed not only through its plot but through dialogue as well as a strong soundtrack that I very much enjoyed. Besides Patrick Stewart being the natural treasure he is as well as getting physical in the movie (I know WOW right!); Kristen Stewart also delivers big time. She is charismatic, bad ass, and has a funny wit throughout the film.  She was absolutely made to play roles like this. The rest of the cast is fun to watch and the best part is that you can tell the entire cast had an amazing time filming this movie.

But this movie's plot just isn't strong and for an action movie well, it simply lacks action.  On top of that, the effects were too noticeably CG at times and the film lacked suspense.  Although the tone of this movie is trying to take itself lightly, similar to movies like the Fast and the Furious franchise, it just doesn't provide a strong plot to compliment the strong empowerment message. The movie's plot and action are just average. However if you are a big fan of the franchise I am sure you will find tons of Easter eggs and references from earlier iterations (and make sure to stay through the entire mid-credit scene for extra goodies)!

If you are looking for a fun movie that has a charismatic cast and a strong female empowerment message, then check out Charlie's Angels and make sure to earn your angel wings!

Rent it