When is a chick flick not a chick flick? When it's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. But then again, why would Charlie's Angels be a chick flick at all? When the television show hit the airwaves on September 22nd 1976, it earned the nickname "jiggle t.v." due to its often bra-less female detectives. Bralessness--and the urban legend of bra-burning--began its life as a feminist plea for liberation. Perhaps this freedom for societal constraints crosses the line to male titillation when combined with feathered hair and high cheekbones.

So why aren't these three crime-solving women empowering women? Because they are mere pawns of Charles Townsend, whose patriarchal voice bids them to do his will. Back in the 70s the shows began with his creepy voice-over "Once upon a time there were three little girls who went to the police academy...but I took them away from all that...my name is Charlie.

All this baggage makes up the legend of Charlie's Angels, which is back now on the big screen for the second time. Director McG--whatever that means--best known for directing a plethora of music videos, returns for his second stab at the Angels. In Full throttle he discards any pretense of plot, just throws together a chain of music video-like action sequences that pretend to be a feature film.

Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much. The use of music in the film seems almost constant. It felt as though the music only stopped during very occasional indoor dialogue. Further, the selection of music to go with the film's action scenes is really fun and often remarkably funny. When the Angels go undercover as welders, for example, the theme from Flashdance blares out--remember Jennifer Beals, the protagonist of the 1983 movie Flashdance, who was a welder? And there are plenty more examples of similar matching of music and action, enough, in fact, to feel like its own Trivial Pursuit category.

The film manages a subtle homage to the late 70s early 80s without getting bogged down by pure retro. The occasional t-shirt or hairstyle references the 70s and the music is often selected for its significance to 70s or 80s pop culture. The result is very effective. Rather than hampered by adherence to naturalism, the movie flows cheerfully with suitable deference to the past.

The price for all this fun, as you might guess, is that Charlie's Angels is very disjointed. We have no idea how one scene links to another. Let me be blunt, the film makes no sense. But hey, who cares, right? There are three very sexy stars, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, and Cameron Diaz, who don't jiggle like their 70's predecessors but they do wear the skimpiest costumes known to man and they kick butt. There's plenty of action, its ALL action, plenty of exotic costumes and fun disguises whether they make sense or not. Then there's Demi Moore who looks incredible and makes an appropriate villain.

So, how to sum up Charlie's Angel's: Full Throttle? I feel my reaction to this film should be tinted with some feminist indignation, but it really isn't. Charlie's Angels is silly, it makes no sense, and it's so much fun.


Home || Complete list of reviews