Well this is a fun way to start the day. The first trailer for Elizabeth Banks’s reboot of Charlie’s Angels is here, and it is pretty fun. A little bit cool? Not at all bad. It doesn’t look like they’re breaking new ground here, but then Charlie’s Angels has always been pretty straightforward. Beautiful women, wearing beautiful clothes, in exotic locales, doing tricksy spy things. That’s all Charlie’s Angels has to be, and that is what Banks is bringing us, along with a strong dose of lady bonding. Kristen Stewart is the biggest star of the new Angels, but she doesn’t dominate the trailer. It’s squarely focused on the trio of Angels, including Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. There is also Elizabeth Banks as (a) Bosley, and a little bit each of Patrick Stewart, Noah Centineo, Chris Pang, and Jonathan Tucker (Justified alums always get a shout-out).
I’m a little bummed that Charlie’s Angels doesn’t come out until November, because this looks like perfect summer fun, although frankly, this summer has been such a weird f-cking trip with the box office, the idea of “summer movies” is probably dead. November is probably a softer landing, without all the superheroes and Disney remakes. That’s too bad, because this does seem like the kind of movie that, once upon a time, would own the summer. It looks fun and bright and PG-13 sexy, like a great movie for a night out with your girlfriends. You know what it reminds me of? The Kingsman movies. Lots of style and spy gadgets, but not Bond-serious or pretentious.
I would like to see, though, more interaction between the Angels and less of the action. This trailer has to lay the groundwork and introduce the tone for Banks’s revival, but I hope the next one gives us more of the Angels interacting. In brief glimpses, it appears they have good chemistry, and I’d like a better look at that. These kinds of movies, like Ocean’s 8, depend heavily on the cast chemistry. Charlie’s Angels looks promising, but I would like to see a little more of the Angels interacting with one another outside of exposition. Because I like the look of Charlie’s Angels, but it does seem to be a movie about exposition. No one really cares about the spy plot in movies like this, it’s just an excuse for fun and hijinks. More of the fun and hijinks please.