‘Charlie’s Angels’ sequel is just too hot to hate
June 30, 2003
“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” is just too enjoyable of a flick to hate. Even the greatest sourpuss should get a kick out of the pure outrageousness of this movie — there’s plenty of thrills, laughs, a whole lot of cleavage and the highly publicized return of Demi Moore — who’s not only back, but better than ever. The same can be said for the movie.
Unfortunately, this enjoyment is cut short due to an overwhelming sense of emptiness surrounding all of the amazing special effects, sexually-suggestive jokes and the captivating Angels. Essentially, “Full Throttle” is an hour and forty-minute trailer and didn’t really seem like a movie at all.
Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore) and Alex (Lucy Liu) return in this sequel to the 2000 action hit, though this time a bit giddier and more comfy together on screen.
In “Full Throttle,” the Angels investigate murders presumably connected to two stolen rings. These rings contain the identities of everyone who is protected by the Witness Protection Program. The angels battle various enemies in an attempt to retrieve them.
Moore plays Madison Lee, an ex-Angel who has turned sour — though it’s unclear to me as to why she despises the new Angels with such a raging anger. Her role seems to stem from an under-appreciation by her former boss, Charlie, though she does a better job being melodramatic and silly.
Another new addition to the cast is Bernie Mac, who takes Bill Murray’s place as Bosley. Although he is quite hilarious in some parts, many of his jokes are either unnecessary or just completely stupid.
It seems the creators of “Full Throttle” have attempted to make up for the absence of depth in the plot (as well as in the characters) by keeping the movie moving at a very fast pace.
The sexual innuendoes couldn’t be more thick. For example, while doing some detective work on the beach, Natalie distracts a suspicious surfer by saying, “Hey, sorry about breaking your stick. You know, when it’s big like that I love to ride it rough and hard.”
This simple and mindless plot is interrupted by random introductions of unfamiliar characters and unexplainable occurrences, thus making the storyline extremely incoherent. As I was trying to understand what was going on during these pointless situations, I constantly wondered if I had missed something.
Excluding the crazy, non-existent plot, “Full Throttle” has the wonderful ability to consistently entertain the viewer throughout the entire movie.
There are numerous cameo appearances that enhance the movie’s overall value. These appearances include Bruce Willis, Pink, Eve and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Former TV angel Jaclyn Smith was even hired to play Kelly Garrett, her character from the original “Charlie’s Angels” TV series.
“Full Throttle,” although slightly degrading to women through the frail, skin-baring showing appearances of the Angels, also shows that women can be action heroes, too. The “girl power” allows a very appealing attribute to an otherwise thin effort.
Overall, I can say that “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” is an exciting and fun movie to watch — just as long as you don’t take it too seriously. It’s a summer movie, here for nothing more than to entertain — and that is exactly what it does.