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by Jim Pappas Published: June 28, 2003
 Lucy Liu (Alex Munday), Cameron Diaz (Natalie Cook) and Drew Barrymore (Dylan Sanders) at the beach in, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” Essentially a long music video and an ode to friendship, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” fails to deliver the goods. The film was made principally, it appears, in order show off the assets of it’s three stars, Cameron Diaz as Angel Natalie Cook, Drew Barrymore as Angel Dylan Sanders, and Lucy Liu as Angel Alex Munday. Unfortunately none of the assets showcased include much in the way of screen presence or acting skills. The three move listlessly through the pedantic and almost dull script (screenplay credits to John August and Cormac and Marianne Wibberely), mostly just jumping and hopping around while flashing their backsides as frequently as possible. While watching these Angels bounce around the screen might excite prepubescent boys, it hardly stirs the blood of an adult viewer looking for something with a little bit of pizzazz. The first big screen treatment of the TV series had a certain charm and enthusiasm that is just plain missing from this sequel. It is also missing the presence of Bill Murray. While I like Bernie Mac in his own TV show and elsewhere, I found him to be a fish out of water as the current incarnation of the Angel’s trusted assistant, Bosley. He just doesn’t fit this role and there were some awkward moments when he was front and center on the screen. Directed by McG, born as Joseph McGinty Nichol, the film lacks much in the way of coherence and cohesion, sacrificing those elements for sound and video bites patched together in a way that appears sometimes as haphazard and accidental as a trip and a fall. Oh, did I mention falling? There is plenty of falling down in this movie, yet no one emerges with so much as a scratch. Maybe some gratuitous bleeding might have helped here. The story opens in Mongolia, with the rescue of an American agent being held hostage by about as mangy looking a group of cutthroats as you can imagine. But these gunsels are easily charmed and distracted by our Angels, who manage to rescue their objective, Ray Carter (Robert Patrick) in an amazing bit of derring-do that completely defies believability. We find out later on that Carter had been carrying one of two titanium rings that have etched inside of them the names and whereabouts of people who are under the care of the Federal Witness Protection Program. It seems many organized crime syndicates are anxious to get their hands on this ring and it’s companion. Meanwhile, the private lives of the Angels come under a small bit of scrutiny as we find out that Natalie’s boyfriend, Pete Komisky, played by Luke Wilson, is moving in with her, and Alex’s father, played by John Cleese, is visiting her and knows nothing about her violent and dangerous career. However, thanks to a clearly misunderstood briefing by Alex’s temporarily estranged significant other, Jason Gibbons (Matt LeBlanc), he is led to believe that his daughter is some kind of prostitute. Charming. There are many nods and winks to sex and sexuality in the film, which would go right over the heads of a real young audience, so this movie can’t really be considered family fare. But the story and execution are so childish that I really believe children would enjoy this movie more than adults. Clean up some of the dialogue a bit and this movie would deserve a G rating. There are a number of cameos, including Bruce Willis, Crispin Glover (reprising his “Thin Man” role from the 1st Angel’s film), and Jaclyn Smith as her Angel self, Kelly Garrett. In addition, Demi Moore is featured as a former Angel, Madison Lee. I don’t recall a “Madison Lee” from the TV series, so I presume the filmmaker’s have created an imaginary history for this franchise that occurs between the time of the TV show and the feature films. Oh joy. While no one would ever declare that “Charlie’s Angels” is anything more than fluffy fantasy, it deserves a bit more of an epitaph than this film. I hope they make a 3rd movie that will wash the bad taste out of my mouth I got from this 2nd film. There is potential for some good cinematic fun with the “Charlie’s Angels” concept, and someone might want to consider spending a bit more time developing a story and screenplay with some texture. I suppose we’ll see come some future summertime. Overall Rating: C |
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