Women Heroes in the Movies...

[S'mon]

Funny, I never had a problem with Dark Angel. I suppose it's because the premise was founded on super-science. I wasn't being asked to believe that a slip of a girl could beat up the weekly villains, I was being asked to believe that a genetically engineered metahuman with superior muscle density, reflexes, bone density, nerve pathways, etc.--who happens to look like a slip of a girl--could beat up the weekly villains. And I bought it. Completely different setup from Charlie's Angels.

I think my problem with Dark Angel was more in terms of 'tude than physical size (although I don't think genetic engineering is as good a 'handwave' as a straight magical explanation a la Buffy). The lead in DA has a weird, blank, unformed sort of look, like a baby or an anime character without the expressive face. For me Sarah Michelle Gellar could carry the Buffy role despite the small size because she got the attitude right, she seemed like a warrior. Max(?) in DA didn't, IMO. YMMV of course.