The “Charlie’s Angels” premise has always been a peculiar one for me. Three lovely, smart women, guided by an unseen man’s instructions, kick butt and save the world. It’s an empowering concept, allowing the women to use their brains and actions to rescue the innocent, yet it’s also erotic, because beauty and disguise and sexuality certainly play their parts as well. The original TV series was sexy but inhibited, yet nothing like it had ever been successfully produced before Kate, Jaclyn and Farrah hit the scene. The two Drew Barrymore-produced movies are cartoonish fun, but very difficult to take seriously. Now Elizabeth Banks tackles the format, writing and directing a movie that pays homage to the past but tries to carve out its own niche.

Elizabeth Banks’ film expands the Townsend Agency’s reach far and wide, with many Angels and many Bosleys. Two agents, Sabina (Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska) are reluctantly paired to protect scientist Elena (Naomi Scott), whose power invention can also be used for assassination. Mayhem ensues. Elena likes what she sees and begins to train to become an Angel herself. More mayhem. The women prevail.

The plotting isn’t too important; some of it is rote and some of it is rather clever. What is important is how these women meet each challenge head on with no hesitation or doubt. The way that intelligence is valued and utilized. And how, as in innumerable male-dominated films, villains are defeated by the good people all working together to beat them. It’s kind of silly, sure, but there is an impact here, too, that I didn’t expect. And it is worth noting that these Angels are a more diverse, inclusive group than has previously been portrayed.

I didn’t expect much from this film and I was pleasantly surprised. I rather like it; it’s certainly better than the earlier two feature films. I wondered why Elizabeth Banks invested so much effort into something that most of us are familiar with in one form or another, and I’m still not sure. However, she has succeeded in recalibrating a cultural trope into something a little different and modern. It’s almost good. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 16 December 2019.