Laugh.... I nearly bought some flares. (Charlie's Angels (DVD))

Member Name: lexicon

Product:	Charlie's Angels (DVD)
Date:	09/11/00 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Silly behaviour, good action and tight clothes.

Disadvantages: None worth worrying about.

Okay, plot-wise this film is about a group of female detectives ( Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore ) employed by a mystery man through his not so mysterious contact Bosley ( Bill Murray ). The 'Angels' are assigned to the case of a mysterious kidnapping which seems to have been arranged by a rival businessman ( Tim Curry, amusing as always). There are however several plot twists to come some of which are highly predictable and some not so.
However, the plot is not really relevant to your enjoyment or otherwise of this film because let's face it this is Charlie's Angels we're talking about here. If any of you reading this are not familiar with the original series then let me enlighten you as to what every single episode was about.
The 3 Angels would be sent on a mission to discover who had kidnapped/murdered a missing VIP and on the way there would be plenty of Machiavellian machinations to make you think there was a plot before finally the Angels rather unconvincingly kicked the bad guy's ass and saved the day.
There are only two differences between these old and very dated programmes and this new film; firstly the film has massively superior special effects that manage to make even Drew Barrymore seem capables of beating up 5 guys with her hands tied behind her back AND secondly this film knows it's based on a seriously kitsch premise and so hams it up for all it's worth.
So outside of these details what did I think ? I thought this film was hilarious. It made me laugh when I was supposed to, it made me cringe at the things I used to think were cool in the old TV program and now realise were dreadful and it almost convinced me that Cameron Diaz could have more successfully played the lead role in the Matrix than Keanu Reeves although she has no chance of a lead in a musical.
There were definitely things wrong with this film, Bill Murray is seriously coasting as Bosley since he almost comes out as bei
ng the only person taking the film seriously, Tim Curry doesn't get enough screen time considering how well his style suited the film and generally speaking if you were too young to see the original series ( I am prepared to admit this is possible ) then you will miss out on many of the kitsch references early on in the film. However, after the first 10 minutes the references to the original series are out of the way and the film gets on with being as silly as it can whlst still providing some great action scenes.
There will be people who hate this film and they will probably be the ones who either try to take it seriously or fail to pick up on it's sense of self-deprecation. For myself I saw it in the US last week and I have every intention of rounding up everyone I know over the age of 30 and getting them to come and see it with me again when it's released in the UK. Of course it may turn out that everyone else I know over the age of 30 is much cooler than me and doesn't want to come to see another TV series made for the big screen but it'll be their loss.

Summary: