 Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) Then another fix is administered and things pick up again, elevating the film to a totally thrilling payoff and almost erasing the deathly dullness of the middle act. So my opinion is mixed: I very much enjoyed most of it, and dreaded a significant part of it. But as it is a Charlie's Angels flick, I won't be too unkind. McG is doing way better with this franchise than ought to be possible. The films are infectious, fun, and spectacular in all the right places. This one multiplies the ridiculousness of the first one by a factor of ten thousand, almost to an alienating extreme, but ultimately reels things in nicely. Tons of celebrity cameos, plus all the expected giddiness. Again, Drew Barrymore is the dead weight, but Cameron Diaz is so thoroughly enjoyable that she more than makes up for all the obvious pop-culture references and misfiring horseplay. Only she could turn a scene that simply revolves around the three Angels dancing to "U Can't Touch This" into a hilarious setpiece almost worthy of Danny Kaye. Crispin Glover returns, this time given more screen time and more depth, and he once again accomplishes the feat of bringing fringe lunacy to a thoroughly mainstream affair. Demi Moore is as good as she's been in anything (which probably isn't saying much), and Jaclyn Smith is wisely brought in for a brief but truly awesome appearance. It says something about the series that this film manages to bend reality in such a way that an appearance by Jaclyn Smith comes off like some impossible and legendary cameo by, like, Audrey Hepburn. McG has an unbeatable knack for taking yesterday's pop trash and turning it into Hollywood gold. Of course, "Hollywood gold" is no different from trash, but it sure looks like treasure.
Review by Georgia Jane Piedro |