Charlie's Angels

With the pair of perfectly fine Barrymore/Diaz/Liu Charlie’s Angels movies already in the world, Elizabeth Banks’ big-screen take on the late-‘70s TV show struggles to justify its existence — beyond the long-awaited pairing of K-Stew and P-Stew, that is.

After a series of dour post-Twilight choices that prompted many critics to label her a serious actor, it’s nice to see Stewart — Kristen, that is — let loose and be funny for the first time in what seems like forever. (2009’s Adventureland, maybe?)

Her performance as Sabina, a goofy but dedicated Angel, is occasionally sufficient reason to watch the reboot, but finds little support among surrounding elements that bafflingly refuse to take the kind of risks that seem like a perfect fit for this project.

Banks’ clunky script finds Sabina and fellow Angel/former MI6 agent Jane (British TV actor Ella Balinska) protecting would-be whistleblower Elena (Naomi Scott, Jasmine from the live-action Aladdin) once she attempts to stop her company’s accidentally dangerous clean energy tech from getting into assassination-minded hands.

Numerous overly-familiar characters are present: the conniving middle manager (Nat Faxon), the clueless billionaire mogul (Sam Claflin), the creepy silent assassin (Jonathan Tucker, NBC’s Parenthood), and other cliché thugs and heroes. Banks arranges the pieces in generally entertaining configurations that momentarily help viewers forget that they’ve seen them all before.

She also maintains a fairly steady pace with a series of promising but unremarkable action set pieces that lack a distinguishable style, plus respites with amusing side players like the Angels’ cartoonish guru Saint (Luis Gerardo Méndez, Murder Mystery) and Bosleys — revealed to be a rank rather than a true name — played by Djimon Hounsou, Banks herself, and the afore-hinted Patrick Stewart.

Hampering the adventures is surprisingly rampant expository dialogue, including a climactic speech by the eventual grand villain that's straight out of a Scooby Doo episode. Worse, the stumbles likewise undercut several potentially rousing moments of Girl Power that, in the service of a better movie, would indeed be the kind of feminist rallying cry that Banks assumes she’s created.

Grade: C. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC Classic, Biltmore Grande, and Carolina Cinemark

(Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment)