Charlie's Angels

This show owes more to the James Bond series and The Bionic Woman than the TV series which bears its name. It's about three superwomen who easily solve complex cases that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are unable to crack. They seem to have superhuman powers. In one scene, a secure door to a five star hotel is easily kicked in by one of the private detectives. They speak multiple languages. They have no trouble hacking into the most secure computers. At times, evidence falls into their laps so conveniently, they don't need to do any detective work. They easily overpower trained thugs and bodyguards who are twice their size, and they do it without messing up their designer clothes and make-up. I realize this isn't supposed to be literal reality, but it could at least be believable. Problem is, this is so unreal, it could be a Saturday morning cartoon. I'm not saying there aren't any tough women. With the proper fitness and combat training, a woman can kick some serious ass. But the stuff shown could only be done by soldiers with special forces training. It never even begins to be credible.

I'm aware that the new Charlie's Angels TV series has received a lot of negative reviews and I've met several people who don't like it. But I like the new Charlie's Angels TV series, in fact I think it is action packed and suspenseful. I like the fact the Bosley is a young man instead of a middle-aged man like he was in the original TV series.

Rachel Taylor, Minka Kelly and Annie Ilonzeh are all very good an the Angels. I also like the fact that all three of these women have a criminal past and that they have been given a chance at redemption by working for Charlie as private detectives.

Each episode I've watched has been quite suspenseful and action packed. I especially liked the episode "Angels in Chains" which is based on an iconic episode of the same name from the first season of the original series.

For those of you who haven't watched the original Charlie's Angels TV series I'll explain. In the original series episode of "Angels in Chains" the Angels get themselves into a women's prison in the country to investigate the death of an inmate. There they discover that the nearby small town sheriff along with the prison warden are having young women arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up violations. The women are enslaved until they become prostitutes in exchange for early release.

In the new Charlie's Angels episode "Angels in Chains" the Angels go to Cuba to investigate the disappearance of a young female American tourist. So the Angels pose as pose as unsuspecting American tourists. Upon their arrival at the Cuban Hotel the Angels are framed of drug possession and thrown into a women's prison, where their key victim, Tess, is also incarcerated. The Angels learn that a corrupt American capitalist is working with the prison warden and is having young female American tourists imprisoned and then used as prostitutes as a part of his business deals. Bosley joins forces with his ex-girlfriend, CIA operative Samantha Masters, to free the Angels and the other wrongfully imprisoned women. So I think the "Angels in Chains" episode is a great homage to the original series episode.

So once again I like the new Charlie's Angels TV series and I will continue to watch every episode of it and recommend this show to people.

The lady's look nice, I give em that much, but the rest... seriously?

Lame props, ridiculous screens on the tab, boring fight scenes, a satellite camera that zooms in from the side, and into the hotel room where the hostage lies bound and gagged? Come on!

And by the way: Bosley? Did you put him in so the girlfriends or alleged power-women watching can have something to look at too?

Another sad attempt to make a buck with something that did work very well in the past.

Putting young good-looking girls/boys on the screen might get people to tune in, but after that some substance and quality might be a good idea.

Go get the original, or at least the crappy movies.

I wanted so bad for this series to work, but it was just horrible. I tried watching the pilot but couldn't make it past poor writing, bad acting and the racing from action sequence to action sequence with zero character development. Why was it necessary to make the Angels bad asses? And that bit about Bosley being a hunk with mad computer skills is just plain dumb.

The next episode I tried to watch was the one where an aspiring model disappears and the Angels are called in to find her. They learn that this model shared a big house with some other models, so they have to go undercover and infiltrate. So far so good, as I anticipate they'll spend the rest of the episode at the mansion trying to find out what misfortune befell their client's daughter, just like the original would have. I assumed it would be about typical criminal activity like prostitution or white slavery gone wrong. But no, they turned it into an episode of international intrigue by having the models marrying foreign criminals for green cards! Turns out the model they were looking for got killed by her green card husband because she stumbled onto his global assassination plot, lol. Of course the requisite computer hacking, gunfire and action sequences ensue.

Same with the most anticipated episode, Angels in Chains. They go to a prison in Cuba? Again they take an original series' idea and try to "make it more relevant" by introducing 24-like elements, with the CIA getting involved and the plot evolving into one of international intrigue. What kind of nonsense is this? These women are private eyes, not Navy Seals!

In short, the producers writers/decided to forgot all about the charmingly cheesy and campy elements of the original series and instead created some mindless action shoot-em-up. Furthermore, the Angels in the original were very engaging and enjoyed great reporte with each other and none of that his present in this incarnation. I guess between all the explosions, machine gun fire, global threats and computer hacking there just wasn't any time left for good old-fashioned character interaction.

You don't watch a series like this expecting a life-changing experience or Shakespearean wit, but I was at least hoping for some mindlessly entertaining action and crime solving. Unfortunately, this programme couldn't even deliver that. The acting is very flat, the script is nonsensical and the plot makes no sense. The Angels seem to have been picked based on their looks and willingness to wear skimpy clothes rather than any particular charisma or talent. Even if you're building your series around providing eye candy, you still need some comic relief, some witty dialogue, or at least something to concentrate on during yet another motion-sickness inducing shaky-cam sequence.

I would be really surprised if this disaster lasts more than a season or two.