'Totally Spies!' - The Superior 'Charlie's Angels'

Charlie's Angels (2019) is a reboot of the movie Charlie's Angels (2000) which is a reboot of the TV show Charlie's Angels (1976). But does anyone even care about this property? I feel like the only reason people saw the first movie was because it had stars that were big at the time. But like, Kristen Stewart hasn't really done anything in a while, I didn't see the new Aladdin so I don't know who Naomi Scott is and I haven't seen nothing so I don't know who Ella Balinska is. I guess Elizabeth Banks is in this and seems to be playing Charlie kind of, because Hollywood is doing this thing where they just recast franchises with women when the boys are done playing with them. Even properties that are led by women can still recast male characters with women sometimes. Why not just create new franchises and properties led by women? Anyone? No? But even with Elizabeth Banks, I don't know if anyone cares about this franchise. I think the reason the original movie works, apart from the great cast, is that it's campy, it's fun and over the top, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Look, I haven't seen the new one yet but from the trailers it looks like another bland blockbuster. So what do I suggest as a solution to this? Easy, we reboot another property from the same era, that is essentially the same premise but could actually benefit from the live action treatment: Totally Spies!

Totally Spies!, like everything else that I enjoy, is an early 2000s action cartoon about a group of teenagers that also happen to be super spies. They've got to save the day, and make it to class on time! All of that shit. You take the premise of Charlie's Angels, three badass chicks doing spy stuff, and throw in a little everyday relatability and boom! Better concept.

I watched a couple episodes recently, and it Totally holds up! (Get it? ...I'm sorry) Well, at least more than the Charlie's Angels movie holds up. If you're still asking, "What the hell is a Totally Spies!?" then I'll tell you! It's this French-Canadian anime inspired action cartoon about three teenaged spies. It's the exact same dynamic as Charlie's Angels, but if the Angels were in high school, and also Charlie looked like Batman's Alfred for some reason. It's a good time, and has more distinct characters than Charlie's Angels. Sam is the leader, Alex is the dumb one, and Clover is the blonde one. They have an actual dynamic unlike the Angels who are all the hot one. Plus they have more distinct designs with these cool jumpsuits, and you'd think they'd be sexualized, but they are surprisingly not. These characters have a ton of potential, and if fleshed out well could make for some interesting stories. And what was Drew Barrymore's character arc again? That she wanted to date Tom Green?

Sure this show is pretty simple, but there is way more to work with if you were to give it the ol' reboot. Especially when compared to Charlie's Angels. Angels has already had multiple iterations, but where's my Totally Spies! movie? It came out around the same time as the Angels movie so it's old enough to be nostalgic, and I'm getting kinda tired of the same franchises over and over again when there are so many other properties that could actually benefit from some kind of revival.

My point is, why reboot something that didn't really have much to it in the first place, when you can reboot something that actually has potential? It appears that we will be getting exclusively reboots until the end of time, so can we at least get some that are good? And maybe do something with properties that are less known, but have a ton of potential.

Also, there's an episode of Totally Spies! that crosses over with Martin Mystery, another great Canadian 2000s show produced by the same company, and it's amazing.