Film face off: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ 2000 versus 2019

By Nitya Kashyap|January 8, 2020

The 2019 movie adaption of “Charlie’s Angels,” originally an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1981, is most definitely superior to the version released in 2000. 

The plot between the two film versions differs greatly. In the 2000 movie, all three angels, played by Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore, were already well acquainted with one another, but in the 2019 film, Elena, played by Naomi Scott, only meets the other two angels, Jane, played by Ella Balinska, and Sabina, played by Kristen Stewart, twenty minutes into the movie. 

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia
The 2019 version of “Charlie’s Angels” has a better soundtrack, more dynamic plot and more interesting character development than its 2000 counterpart.

Another interesting change director Elizabeth Banks brings to the 2019 version is the concept of the Angels being a worldwide organization with more members than just the main trio. 

While the trio in the 2000 film pretty much remain static throughout the film, the characters in the 2019 version are much more dynamic. The film shows the three angels bonding and changing as they face harrowing situations together. This makes the plot much more interesting.

On the other hand, the 2000 version has a stagnant, repetitive plot, with the Angels facing off against one villain after the other.

The soundtrack in the 2019 version is also better. Compared to the music from the 2000 film, the new soundtrack is more put together and actually matches the scene in which each song appears. This makes sense because most of the songs on the 2019 soundtrack were actually made for the particular scenes during which they played. 

For example, in the last fight scene of the 2000 version, the rock and roll music takes attention away from the actual fighting. It is incredibly distracting. 

Also, the songs that comprised the soundtrack of the 2000 version were already mostly top hits when the film came out. By contrast, most of the songs featured on the 2019 soundtrack are original, first heard in the movie itself.

If you haven’t checked out the reboot of Charlie’s Angels, it’s no longer in theaters, but it will soon be available to stream on Amazon Prime and iTunes.