Rapid though Silly

The plot starts with Elena who, after helping to create Calisto, a computerised Rubik’s Cube that can generate clean sustainable energy, voices her concern to her boss Alexander Brok (Sam Cafling) about the product’s dangerous potential to be weaponised if it goes in the wrong hands. She fears the worst as someone is planning to steal it and sell it on the black market and that’s when she decides to contact the Townsend Agency. However, her meeting with Jane and Bosley (Elizabeth Banks) doesn’t go well as a hired killer Hodak (Jonathan Tucker) opens fire at them. While Bosley and Jane are at the coffee shop meeting Elena, Sabina is keeping a watch at Hodak, who kills in broad daylight while showing off his tattoos, from the top of a building across the road. Soon they realise that there is a traitor in the agency who keeps disclosing their information and thus they have no one but each other to trust to keep Calisto away from the perpetrators and save the world from massive destruction.

Out of the three female leads, one thought Stewart would stand out, keeping in view her vast acting career, but she comes out with some odd dialogue that does not suit the character she plays or the energy she provides. Sometimes it feels as if she is talking to the camera. However, the newcomers Balinska and Scott are solid enough in bringing in the right amount of energy to the screen. Balinska is a surprise as she gets most of the major action beats and performs them gracefully while Scott, fresh from her role in ‘Aladdin’, is effective as a trainee engineer who knows her craft well.

Jonathan Tucker as the villain plays a menacing exception who is on a mission to stop the Angels from exposing whatever plan they had in mind. Patrick Stewart is a fine Bosley while Banks gives out the right notes of mischief and mystery as Bosley. She improves with every film she’s in. Sam Claflin and Noah Centineo give memorable performances while Nat Faxon as Elena’s boss turns out fine. All the characters seem to be having a good time delivering the bad dialogues.

The film is the first screenplay and second film as director for Banks, a predominantly comic actor who has moved behind the scenes. She is famous for having a well-designed wardrobe and production design which is somewhat stylish but the pointless international locations and unnecessary action sequences makes it all worse. In addition, it seems the Angels are like robots. They get instructions from Bosley about the villains’ whereabouts and then they mess things up while the villains escape. The killing of innocent people on their way to reach their target is a matter of concern for the general public.

‘Charlie’s Angels’ overall serves as a rapid and silly creation and part of the problem is that Stewart is so much more famous than her co-stars, even though she is not well-cast. Similarly, at one point, the film hints on Jane’s past as an MI6 agent but quickly wraps that up to return to the main storyline. Though the film gives its characters time to connect and interact as strong, loyal women looking out for each other, but it all goes in vain. The film fails to promote the idea of women working together and lacks in satisfying the public, let alone its female audience.

With a running time of 118 minutes, the film is rated PG-13 for excessive violence, absurd language and some suggestive material.