Three kick ass spy ladies doing kick ass spy stuff is an awesome premise and that’s basically what Charlie’s Angels is, but this initial trailer for the rebooted franchise doesn’t seem to reflect that very much. It’s a choppy mess of ill-timed action and awkward one-liners. Now, that’s just the trailer. The film itself might turn out to be a blast as it does appear to be littered with action and ridiculous set ups (and Patrick Stewart), but this is not what I’d kick off a marketing campaign with.
The concern is that this is all first time action director Elizabeth Banks gave the marketing team to work with. While pulling in inexperienced action directors can pay off it’s a gamble that can also lead to films that never feel coherent. Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska all look like they can handle themselves here, but I don’t feel any magic between them at all. It’s more a collection of tropes painted over with exposition. I was kind of excited for this as a fan of the tongue-in-cheek McG films, but this trailer doesn’t look like they’re having much fun with it at all.
Charlie’s Angels releases on November 15, 2019.
