BY Catherine Brown
catherine@newsroom.byu.edu
'Charlie's Angels' kicks butt.
Not only do the three angelic vixens use high-flying 'Matrix'-ish moves to oust the slimy bad guys, but they also prove they can stamp out competition presented by other movies simply by having fun.
And having fun is what this movie is all about. Anyone who goes to this movie wanting to take it seriously will be disappointed. The plot alone is just a glorified television episode.
But that doesn't matter. The energy, comic timing and silly antics of the performers in this movie should have anybody smiling goofily during the film.
The angels are ditsy Natalie (Cameron Diaz), rebellious Dylan (Drew Barrymore) and super-smart Alex (Lucy Liu). They are led by Charlie (voiced by John Forsythe, who was also in the TV show), and Bosley (comic genius Bill Murray).
The angels' job? Charlie instructs them to find the kidnapped technological guru Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), recover Knox's voice-encryption technology and nail the bad guy. (See? Complicated plot, huh?)
The angels take off on the mission, using deliberately silly costumes -- geishas, belly dancers, race-car crew members, etc. - and impossibly clever technology. Because they find Knox early on, everyone knows there is more to this plot than just Rockwell's disappearance.
Things become predictable when good guys turn bad, bad guys are innocent, Bosley gets kidnapped, and Charlie gets targeted. Between all of this, the angels also have to deal with their love lives, each made difficult by the fact that the angels are super-detectives.
In the end, the angels save the day, the bad guys get their butts kicked and the angels go through the obligatory 4 million costume changes. (After all, one of the major purposes of the movie is to have men gawk at the beautiful angels and have the women look at the angels' clothes and curves in envy.)
All the major performers put energy into their roles. Diaz is hysterical as the clueless Natalie. Her scene at the taping of 'Soul Train' lets her cut loose and prove she can play a geek.
Barrymore seems to be having the time of her life when she takes on a room full of thugs with her hands bound by rope. And Liu gets the enviable task of having her hair shot in slow motion.
Crispin Glover, who plays a bad guy known solely as 'Thin Man' is deliciously evil, although he has a completely wordless performance.
Really the main detractor in the ensemble is comedian Tom Green, who plays one of Barrymore's love interests. The man just isn't funny here.
But thankfully the rest of the performers are funny, and they really boost the script (which was written by a team of both credited and uncredited writers). And first-time film director McG really digs his teeth into the film with the visual and musical flair of a music-video director, which is what he is.
So while it may not have the gloss, drama or importance of other films, it sure makes for a joyous 90 minutes, even if you feel bad for liking it so much when you leave the theater.
'Charlie's Angels' is rated PG-13 for action-related violence, sexuality, innuendo and nudity.
Three stars