The trouble with angels
If the first Charlie’s Angels movie didn’thave enough pseudo kung fu explosions, innuendo and homoeroticgirlie scenes for you, then you’ll get more than enough thistime around.
Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore reprise their roles asthe best dressed team of agents on stilettos for Charlie’sAngels: Full Throttle. Rejoining them for the sequel are MattLeBlanc and Luke Wilson as the girls’ love interests.
Noticeably absent is Bill Murray as the Angel’s bumblingsidekick, Bosley. Bernie Mac steps into Bosley’s shoes, andkudos to the writers for doing a decent job of making sense of whythe first Bosely was white and Mac is black.
The mission that consumes the length of the film —recovering a pair of rings that unlocks the real identities ofpeople in the witness protection program — is mediocre. Butthis film is obviously not too concerned with a plot. The emphasisis on what it takes for the Angels to get the job done, even ifthat means Diaz dressing up in a Swedish outfit riding a mechanicalbull in a bar full of drunk Mongolians, the girls prowling aroundin a Pussycat Dolls-like routine in a dockside strip club andperforming impossible stunts and gratuitous booty-shaking.
Director McG knows how to mix the right amount of testosteroneand girl power to make this movie work. Sure the Angels use theirundeniable sex appeal to manipulate the men that stand in theirway, but they’re also freakishly intelligent and enjoy andamazing on-screen chemistry.
Demi Moore’s role in the movie, somewhat of a guiltypleasure with her twin, gold Desert Eagles and her hair flowing asshe and the Angels duke it out, is reminiscent of JulieNewmar’s version of Catwoman in the “Batman”television series. As Moore watches a monitor wearing nothing butlingerie and a fur, while laughing devilishly and holding afingernail extension to her lip, you can almost hear herpurring.
In this installment of “Angels,” we meet Liu’snon-Asian father played by John Cleese (no explanation there), andthe creepy thin man makes a comeback. This time he’sprotecting the Angels. We get an opportunity to learn about hisbackground, but we’re still left in the dark about why hecan’t / won’t speak and his bizarre fixation withBarrymore’s hair.
A few surprising faces such as Bruce Willis, the Olsen twins,Eve, and original Angel Jaclyn Smith, make appearances.
The Dallas Morning News gave “Angels” a Cbecause of the slapstick humor, the not-so-subtle pop culturereferences and roles that aren’t Oscar-worthy, but so what?Full Throttle is a fun movie, a lot like a comic book brought tolife.
The film won’t win any awards at Cannes, but you can betit’ll rake in the dough at the box office this summer..
