“I think women can do anything,” Kristen Stewart says in the opening moments of the new Charlie’s Angels trailer—before choking a guy, launching into a backflip (possibly in heels), punching him out, and eventually tearing off a bouncy blonde wig to reveal her signature short crop. Stewart is obviously talking about not just her character—but also herself—when she adds: “We have so many talents.” Director Elizabeth Banks’s reboot of the momentous 2000 Cameron Diaz/Lucy Liu/Drew Barrymore movie version is shaping up to be rather rad, thanks to K-Stew; her fellow angels are Naomi Scott (of Power Rangers fame as well as Jasmine in the live-action Aladdin) and newcomer Ella Balinska.
The Angels reboot could be a welcome departure from the heteronormative, male gaze-y standard of popping all the angels into bikinis for slo-mo beach runs: Autostraddle lauded Stewart’s hair, her “swagger,” and the fact that the trailer was dropping on the first day of World Pride as evidence that Stewart might be allowed to be “gay as hell”—in the best way possible—in the film.
Another sign of progress: Banks is shaking up the casting of a historically white male role—that of Bosley, the elusive Charlie’s associate who gives the angels their assignments. Played by Bill Murray in the 2000 movie version and David Doyle on the original TV show, Bosley will now be split across three actors: Banks herself, Djimon Hounsou, and Star Trek legend Patrick Stewart (Bosley is no longer a single person but an agency rank, Banks has said).
Bonus points for a brief appearance in the trailer by Noah Centineo as a hot nerd and a snippet of the new Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, and Lana Del Rey single made for the film—key lyric: “Boy, don’t call me angel.” May this 2019 anthem be as beloved as the 2000 Charlie’s Angels jam: for those of you who weren’t born yet, it was Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women.”
Source: Vogue.com
