"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine!"
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out
of 4 stars (PG-13)In a recent issue of MOVIELINE, I got angry when they didn't
print a photo of Farrah Fawcett's famous trademark smile along
with a story they wrote about her. They printed my concerns because
they knew Farrah was the hottest one of 1970's "Charlie's
Angels." Now we have a new "Charlie's Angels" in
movie theaters, but do the girls live up to the 70's cast?
"Charlie's Angels" is a movie about three hot female
private investigators hired to track down a kidnapped computer
wiz and to keep his high-tech voice identification software from
being stolen. The film is based on the old TV show and comes in
the form of a parody.
Ron Wells (filmithreat.com) said, "'Charlie's Angels'
actually turns out to be the most fun movie of the year."
Not quite, Ron. The movie's action, jiggle factor and the supporting
cast are not enough to save the plot. I understand this is a parody,
but it simply didn't work. I generally like parodies, but it would
have been much better had they taken the idea more seriously -
in the fashion of "Mission Impossible" or "James
Bond." Then we'd have a new smart franchise in Hollywood.
Steve Murray (Cox News Service) adds, "And it's the
funniest pop-culture romp since Austin Powers first pranced down
Carnaby Street."
The difference is, Steve - Austin Powers worked! It didn't call
itself James Bond. It was a parody of films like that. But don't
be surprised if a new movie comes out next year called, "Charlie's
Angels Meets Austin Powers."
The ironic part is that "Charlie's Angels" (the 1970's
version) was cheesy already. Why did we need more cheese? If only
the creators had gone the big juicy steak route and made a full
meal out of this franchise. The stupid plot was so stupid I couldn't
have fun.
Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) rightly asks, "What
is it? A satire? Of what? Of satires, I guess. It makes fun of
movies that want to make fun of movies like this. It's an all-girl
series of mindless action scenes."
Action is not enough to save a film, unless it comes from the
director's mouth and is aimed at a good script. Ok. The action
was top notch. In fact, the movie appears to be a smart one in
the beginning - featuring a slick stunt jumping from a jet. But
then we realize the entire movie is stunt.
Lawrence Toppman (Charlotte Observer) got it right: "You
shouldn't make camp campier. They've retained the cleavage, butt-kicking,
gadgetry and hair-tossing from the gleefully absurd '70s TV show,
but they've exaggerated characters who needed no exaggeration."
Robert Wilonsky (New Times Los Angeles) adds, "Notice
there's not a single character worth giving a damn about or a
single plot point that makes a lick of sense."
Oh, sure. The movie has its moments. The best one came from Diaz
when she jumped on the "Soul Train" stage with that
awful dance. But you couldn't help but love her! When you compare
this trio to the original crime fighters on the 70's show, they
are more like Bosley's devils than Charlie's Angels. Then again,
this is a parody.
Murray said, "Despite dark reports of a ballooning
budget, countless script rewrites and the occasional on-set tiff,
'Charlie's Angels' turns out to be a terrific popcorn movie."
I agree, Steve! But you should be eating the popcorn at
home in front of the VCR. If the angels (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore
& Lucy Liu) were given brains, this would have been one cool
movie. I still like the original angels better (especially Farrah),
but the action will be the main reason to see the new film.
A.O. Scott (New York Times) summed the movie up best: "Unlike
so many big-budget action movies, it never pretends that it's
anything more than trashy, cheesy fun. But even trash - especially
trash this expensive - should at least be well made. Sure, it's
easy on the eyes, but would a little brains be too much to ask?"
The problem with this two-star movie is that they gave it - little
brains.
--CRITIC DOCTOR
© Copyright 2000 by Herb Kane
All rights reserved.
www.criticdoctor.com
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CAST: Cameron Diaz (Natalie), Drew Barrymore (Dylan), Lucy Liu (Alex), Bill Murray (Bosley), Tim Curry (Roger Corwin) and John Forsythe (Charlie's Voice)
DIRECTOR: McG
PRODUCERS: Drew Barrymore, Leonard Goldberg, Nancy Juvonen
SCREENPLAY: Ryan Rowe & Ed Solomon and John August
U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures
RELEASE DATE: 11.03.00
RUNNING TIME: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Profanity, violence, sexual innuendo)
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