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The long-awaited sequel to the year 2000 hit is finally out.
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle delivers on everything
one would expect from a movie with such a suggestive title.
Full Throttle takes everything about the last movie
(already over-the-top to begin with) and pushes it to the
next level. The same director and cast reprise their roles
with the exception of Bernie Mac taking over for Bill
Murray as Bosley.
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle feels more like a
collection of vignettes than a single cohesive movie. If it
were not for the presence of the angels in every shot and
the aura of silliness pervading this entire production one
could easily believe that the movie was created by combining
random clips from other films. Each little skit within the
movie has the beautiful look of a music video, and often features
a celebrity cameo. All of this is really an excuse to get
the girls into a succession of more and more outlandish predicaments,
forcing the angels to use their various “talents” including
but not limited to mastery of disguise, kung fu fighting,
and vehicular combat. Most importantly, few of the skits overstay
their welcome; just as one gag gets old McG introduces
a fresh, new routine. It’s like “Sesame Street” for grown-ups.
As much as one can tell the central plot revolves around
Madison Lee (Moore), a fallen angel who has acquired
the complete list of members of the federal witness protection
program. Demi Moore shines in her bad girl role, vamping it
up at every opportunity. She outperforms the original cast
at their own game by being smarter, deadly, and sexier than
all three angels put together. This movie is awash in subplots
and the Madison Lee story is not given nearly enough screen
time. The other diversions (and there are many) involve a
Cape Fear rip-off that goes on far too long when Dylan’s
(Barrymore) vengeful ex-boyfriend is released from
prison; Natalie’s (Diaz) apprehension about an important
question her boyfriend has yet to ask; Alex’s (Liu)
“time out” from her boyfriend and her comical miscommunication
of her true profession to her father (Cleese). These
girls have some serious guy trouble!
Taken as a whole, this movie does not make any sense. Even
some of its parts, the motorcycle race especially, do not
make sense. None of that really matters because it’s all so
much fun. Strings of double entendres and bad puns keep the
mood light and so does the occasional song and dance routine.
The movie never takes itself seriously and includes just the
right amount of self-referential humor. The action choreography
is fun and lightweight and a varied soundtrack, including
Dick Dale, The Who, and many others, contributes to
the movie-going enjoyment. Regrettably, girl exploitation
replaces the girl power vibe of the original. This is the
perfect movie to watch on television. Regardless of when you
start watching, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle will
still make just as little sense and be just as much fun.
—Woodrow Bogucki
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out of 5
While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video... 
