Empire Australasia – August 2019

IT’STHEFIRSTONEMADEBYAWOMAN

AllpreviousiterationsofCharlie’sAngels

havebeenmalevisionsofa women’sworld.

The1970sTVshowwasmadebymen;aswere

thetwoearly2000smoviesdirectedbyMcG.

Nowit hasa newdirector,co-producer,

co-writerandco-starinElizabethBanks,

markinghersecondtimebehindthecamera

(after2015’sPitchPerfect 2 ). Bankswanted

tomakea moviethathadfun,butstilltook

theprivatedetectivetrioseriously.“Iwantto

tella storyaboutwomenatwork,”shesays.

“Idon’tcareabouttheirboyfriends,the

mumtheydon’tcall,thecattheydon’t

feed.Thesewomenare here to kick ass and

do a great job.”

Charlie’s

Angels gets

2019-ed

Fourwaysthetraditionalfranchiseisbeingrebootedinto

something feminist, forward-thinking—andbadass

IT’SREPRESENTINGAWIDERWORLD

ForherAngels,Bankschosea morediverse

group,intermsofethnicityandsexuality,than

anypreviousfilm.NewcomerEllaBalinskaplays

weaponsexpertJane;Aladdin’s NaomiScottis

techspecialistElena;andindiestarKristen

Stewartis free-spiritedscrapperSabina.When

sheentereddiscussionsfortherole,Stewart,who

is bisexual,askedBanksif shecouldmake

Sabinathefranchise’sfirstqueerlead.“Shesaid,

‘Flirtwithanyoneandeverything,’”saysStewart.

IT’SANACTIONMOVIEWITHACONSCIENCE

ACharlie’sAngelsfilmneedsaction.It’sallpart

ofthefun.Whileprepping,Bankswatched

a lot of Tony Scott movies, as wellasJohn

WickandAtomicBlonde, tocraftherstyle,

butshewantedtomakesuretheactionwould

beaboutdefence,notoffence.“Everything

wedois tosurviveandsaveeachothers’

lives,”saysStewart.“Every single bullet is

accounted for.”

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