The problem with Angular is that it's 2005 technology masquerading as the new hotness. Angular existed in 2005 in almost the same state. Why? For people who wrote Java or PHP that didn't want to learn this "new" language, JavaScript. In fact, we had a half-dozen implementations between ASP, whatever the name of Google's solution was at the time, and the Myriad of "MooTools Helpers" and "Prototype Helpers" in PHP.
The reality is that Angular, as a framework, takes you 90% of the way there, just like any other framework, but it makes the last 10% almost impossible to do "right." This is in contrast to JS-based frameworks which don't conflate your entire application to add some questionable ease of use. ReactJS, Knockout, etc, are all superior in that they allow you to do some Angular things without getting in your way when you need to do non-Angular things.
The reality is that Angular, as a framework, takes you 90% of the way there, just like any other framework, but it makes the last 10% almost impossible to do "right." This is in contrast to JS-based frameworks which don't conflate your entire application to add some questionable ease of use. ReactJS, Knockout, etc, are all superior in that they allow you to do some Angular things without getting in your way when you need to do non-Angular things.