Ever get the feeling that Hollywood just isn’t ready for new ideas? That might be easy to see now that Charlie’s Angels is getting a reboot under director Elizabeth Banks. Kristen Stewart has been slated to carry the lead in the movie and the other two angles have been selected as well to head this supposedly up and coming new film that will be coming to theaters in 2019. As far as empowering women goes there were several shows that have done this since the original Angels in the 1970s, but the most recent films starring Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, and Drew Barrymore seemed to be aimed more at highlighting the overall sex appeal of the Angels while putting them through their paces. This new movie is going to be about true female empowerment it seems, though we don’t know just yet what it’s going to be about. Having watched the movies and the show before however you know very well that the Angels are going to be exhibiting plenty of action.
Is Kristen Stewart the right actress for the lead role?
That’s hard to say unless you’re a real fan or can take an objective standpoint. She is a talented actress for certain and has proven this on more than one occasion. But while the Angel’s don’t need to be bubbly and vapid all the time she does seem to exhibit a very dark, brooding stare a lot that might not fit with the overall needs of the part. But then again, she’s an actress, and her job is to pretend to be someone she’s not. Hopefully she can be convincing in this, or perhaps the hope should be that this new Angel’s movie will be something far different than we’ve seen before in terms of attitude and how the Angel’s behave and are seen. After all, considering that this idea has been worked and reworked before it might be time to see a different kind of group that isn’t all bubbly and cute all the time, but are intelligent, deadly, and a lot more laid back. Who knows? She could be perfect for the role that Banks has assigned her.
It kind of feels like too many directors are going back to the well too often.
To explain this a little better just look at all the reboots and remakes that are coming out and have come out throughout the last decade and more. Having an original thought in Hollywood these days seems to mean taking something from the past, dusting it off, and then passing off a few bits and pieces of it as something new while keeping the basic structure of the story. Or in this case it means taking something that already exists and making it look shiny and new by tacking on new actors, a new plot, and of course calling it a reboot. Most stories will be like previous stories that have come before thanks similar elements and ideas, but it really seems like it’s time for new writers to step in that won’t keep hanging out at the old idea well in the hope that a spark of inspiration will come from something that’s already been dragged out of the past more than once. It could be that this film will be something unique and popular for the time but that was what was said of Charlie’s Angels years before as well, and eventually it flew a little too close to sun and like Icarus came crashing down.
An exciting new cast could make a difference.
Obviously the cast from the 70s program won’t be coming back unless it’s a cameo, and it seems like it might be poor taste or at least a decision worthy of an eye-roll if Liu, Diaz, or Barrymore were brought back in any capacity. If the movie is going to unveil a new trio of fresh faces then it needs to remain that way throughout the movie without anyone else that’s been there mucking about. The original cast from the 70s, the Angels, might be fun to see in cameos, but nothing else. If Elizabeth Banks really wants to do something special, and this seems silly to write since she’s obviously already working on it, then she should really consider keeping everything as new and as fresh as possible. While it’s always a good idea to pay homage to the ideas that created the current movie, if applicable, it’s not necessarily a great idea to give a nod to the other attempts that came along and didn’t do so well.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the movie starts being hyped and the trailers start to roll out, but at this point Kristen Stewart as the lead Angel seems like something that should be accepted but still watched carefully to see how others take it.
Follow Us
