Get Some Action (Charlie's Angels (DVD))

Member Name: moronboy

Product:	Charlie's Angels (DVD)
Date:	25/11/00 (45 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bombs, bums and bad jokes

Disadvantages: Silly beyond my ability to describe

It really ought to be awful - no film with this source could be that good, given that the original TV series was the worst of Seventies froth. And yet, bizarrely, this high-camp extravaganza of martial arts, dopey jokes, and tight trousers is something of a triumph.

Forget the story, because there isn't one, but instead, revel in the endless stunts, high-kicking action and visual fireworks as Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu chop and kick their way through innumerable costume changes, stunt set-pieces and one-liners.

Diaz gets the best of it as the slightly dim but dazzling Natalie, mixing lots of beaming grins at the camera and slo-mo hair-flicks with some outstanding slapstick comedy - her bum-waggling dance in spiderman underpants is probably the funniest thing you'll see in a cinema this year (everyone in the wholly mixed cinema I saw it was laughing, rather than drooling). Liu is also funny, though Barrymore, producing this movie as well as playing Hard Angel, gets the least to do.

As Bosley, Bill Murray threatens to steal the film wholesale from the chicks, so his appearances are ruthlessly limited - nevertheless, one of the best gags in the whole film is merely the look on on his face as he emerges at a party with an angel on each arm, tinted sunglasses, cravat and the silliest wig in the world.

The fight sequences are very much in the gravity-defying tradition of recent cinema - few films have shown their debt to 'The Matrix' so nakedly - but first-time director McG still manages to shoot them with considerable flair. Moreover, the constant use of animation, split screen and captions makes the film seem very sparkling and fun.

With a host of cameos (LL Cool J in the MI2 parody which opens the film, Matt Le Blanc and Tom Green), some fine in-jokes and a general tone of girly silliness, this is not a film to be taken seriously, but as mindless, Saturday night popcorn entertainment, it has fe
w peers.

Summary: