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June 27, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
I am such a big fan of the original Charlie's Angels movie that I
was actually excited about a sequel
because Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz
and Lucy Liu proved that it was possible
for women to produce an entertaining
action film just like the fellas! The
spirit of the song "Girls Just
Want to Have Fun" ran riot of the
first movie and producer Drew Barrymore
added a freshness to the scene with
comedy, kick-butt stunts and good casting
that include her then old boyfriend,
new boyfriend as well as super villains
and girl buddies. Charlie's Angels was
cool and it succeeded where others had
failed. Well, this time around, the
former music video director, McG né
Joseph McGinty Nichol has made a super-sized
version of a boy's fantasy that can
be found in magazines like Maxim. The
pure girl spirit is gone and despite
loads of kick-butt fighting and fun
stuff like dirty bike racing and surfing,
Charlie's Angels Full Throttle
is loud and forgettable!
I didn't come to this conclusion lightly
but gave it loads of thought because
its summer and I love sitting back,
munching popcorn while indulging in
mindless entertainment. The nagging
thought that the "girl fun"
that existed in the original film just
wasn't present in Full Throttle
was inescapable. While the Angels travel
from Mongolia to the LA beaches, they
prance around in slow-mo fights and
"girlie" costumes as strippers,
beach bunnies and biker babes. These
poses are designed to attract the boys!
The Angels mission is retrieve a pair
of rings and protect members of the
Witness Protection program from a number
of worldwide criminal organizations.
Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and Alex (Lucy
Liu) discover that Dylan's (Barrymore)
name is on that list and that her former
boyfriend Irish gangster, Seamus O'Grady
(Justin Theroux Mulholland Drive)
is set on revenge. Along the way, they
also meet former Angel Madison Lee (Demi
Moore) who has a deadly message for
Charlie. Funny man Bernie Mac (Ocean's
Eleven) appears as Bosley (Bill
Murray is his adopted brother) but he's
largely wasted. I don't think he gets
to throw a punch.
Charlie's Angels Full Throttle
is a group of spectacular episodes that
pay homage to many recent pop movies
like Indiana Jones, The
Matrix and Flashdance
but letting Alex's father (John Cleese
A Fish Called Wanda) think
she's a prostitute isn't funny! Returning
cast boyfriends Matt Le Blanc (can you
believe this role is his best big screen
work!) and Luke Wilson (Old School)
have lost their comic edge since
they now know what their girlfriends
do for a living. Crispin Glover's (Back
to the Future) surprise return
as the Thin Man was wonderful but too
brief. I love Demi Moore (G.I. Jane,
The Stripper) but she simply
didn't have that delicious mask of evil
like Justin Theroux who proved to be
the best villain. He was genuinely scary
- and we knew it too because we could
see it on Drew Barrymore's face!
Please Drew, you're the producer! Rein
in McG (he doesn't know everything because
much of this movie looks like his TV
show, "Fastlane"!) and his
adolescent male fantasies (Demi licking
Cameron!) and get back to female fantasies
of empowerment and action fun! Dylan,
Alex and Natalie were sexy in the first
and they didn't have to pole dance for
the boys!
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