Reviews for 'Charlie's Angels' reboot are a decidedly mixed bag

Elizabeth Banks' reboot of the Charlie's Angels franchise – not seen since Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore in 2003's sequel Full Throttle – has arrived.

Banks, as well as directing, has taken on the role of Bosley, assistant to the secretive Charlie Townsend, as played by Bill Murray back in the early 2000s.

She's joined by new Angels Kristen Stewart as the rebellious Sabina Wilson, Aladdin star Naomi Scott as Elena Houghlin, a scientist, and Ella Balinska, a former MI6 agent turned Angel.

But was it all worth reinvigorating the Townsend Agency?

That appears to be open for debate.

Reckons veteran Rolling Stone reviewer Peter Travers: “Does the fact that this unwanted update of the Charlie's Angels franchise is less awful than expected make it worth seeing? Hardly. But at least director Elizabeth Banks and her woke angels make this salvage operation go down easy.”

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Adds Slate: “The film is stuffed with noble intentions... But Banks' vision of women-empowerment heaven plays more like a checklist of topics from the feminist discourse of the past few years than a coherent movie, let alone a crowd-pleasing one.”

“The writer-director Elizabeth Banks has chucked the bikinis, but not the foundational fairy tale that women's power is a matter of low stakes, cute outfits and sassy you-go-girl attitude,” says the New York Times.

The praise, meanwhile, is a little on the faint side.

“Banks's film has an offbeat sense of humour; its rhythms are weird, the volume surprisingly muted for a movie from the director behind two Pitch Perfect films,” writes Vanity Fair.

Adds Indiewire: “Nobody really asked for another Charlie's Angels reboot, but this one will leave you eager for more.”

“Kristen Stewart sounds unleashed with every line reading, teasing the whole movie toward throwaway charm,” says Entertainment Weekly.

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And per The Guardian: “It's better than it could have been while also not being quite good enough to warrant any further instalments.”

Presumably a single new Charlie’s Angels movie is not what Sony Pictures had in mind, but here we are.

Also starring Djimon Hounsou as another Bosley, Patrick Stewart (as another), Sam Claflin and Noah Centineo, it's out in the UK on November 29.