Obviously Kristen Stewart is the best part of 'Charlie's Angels'
The 2019 reboot of Charlie's Angels begins its first scene with a close-up of Kristen Stewart's face. As she discusses gender roles over dinner with a male companion, who radiates cockiness from his offscreen face, the camera stays fixed on her face as she speaks and reacts, capturing little gestures as she seemingly decides, in the moment, how playful, aggressive, or accepting to be of this guy's opinions about whether men and women have natural roles to play.
The focus doesn't last, cutting away from Stewart's face in favor of traditional wider shots and cutting back-and-forth between the two actors. As expected, the scene flips as Stewart's cover is revealed, and she beats the tar out of the bad guy she's been seducing as a distraction.
Technically, the whole movie is stripped-down; it's less elaborately expensive and cartoonish than the color-blasted, electric-green-grass music-video sensibility of the two McG movies with Diaz, Barrymore, and Liu. But Stewart has clearly shown up to goof around, and she plays Sabina as kind of a Ryan Reynolds type — motormouthed and occasionally whimsical.
What Banks comes up with in its place should be a parody, but isn't: a montage of stock footage depicting women and girls around the world engaged in positivity, the kind of cheesy empowerment that belongs in an ad for a political campaign, or possibly bottled water. Her script is littered with pop-feminist grievances proudly calling attention to themselves: Scott alone gets mansplained, told to smile more, and has credit stolen at work .
The MacGuffin-chasing becomes a respite from the sometimes-misjudged tone, even if the plot is simultaneously simple and overbusy, with multiple celebrity cameos filling out the roster of worldwide Bosleys , and even more popping up for some mid-credits scenes. What keeps Charlie's Angels watchable is, as ever, the trio of women posing at its center: Stewart, Scott, and even the stoic Balinska are just plain fun to watch, and the loose formula of disguises, kicks, and chases remains durable.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former world number four Berdych announces retirementFormer world number four and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych announced his ret...
Read more »
Former world number four Berdych announces retirementFormer world number four and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych announced his ret...
Read more »
Turkey arrests four of Baghdadi's relatives - prosecutorKirsehir's prosecutor’s office said that 25 of dead Daesh leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's close relatives had been remanded in an anti-terror operation.
Read more »
Ford's UAW members vote to ratify new four-year contractThe United Auto Workers union said on Friday that rank-and-file members at Ford ...
Read more »
Turkey arrests four mayors over alleged terror linksAt least 20 municipal officials were also arrested along with HDP mayors from Savur, Derik and Mazidagi districts of Mardin and Suruc district of Sanliurfa as part of ongoing terrorism investigations, provincial prosecutors said.
Read more »
Four Reasons Deval Patrick Decided To Run For PresidentDeval Patrick's decision to jump into the 2020 presidential race might look crazy, writes David S. Bernstein for wgbhnews. But by jumping in just before the deadline to run in New Hampshire, he risks as little as possible while he looks for an opening.
Read more »