Although as movie reviewers, film critics and the like, most of us try to remain impartial and not pass judgment on a film until after we've seen it, many of us hold some resentment - for any number of reasons -- against remakes of old films and big screen adaptations of old TV shows.
While a few of the latter have worked (such as "Star Trek" and "The Fugitive"), many haven't ("The Avengers"). Of course, some use the old show as a target for ridicule (some loving, some not) such as "The Brady Bunch," but for the most part, there's a good reason such stories originally appeared in 30 or 60 minute form rather than as a feature length film with a budget larger than the GNP of many third world countries.
That said, I wasn't particularly crazy about the idea of seeing the big screen version of "Charlie's Angels." After all, the popular 1970s era show was really only known for one thing - ample amounts of T&A provided by the likes of Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, Farrah Fawcett and various later replacements -- and the "detective stories," of course, were really just an afterthought. To top if off, it didn't help when I learned that yet another TV commercial and music video veteran, making his first foray onto the silver screen, would helm this adaptation.
As such, I figured the movie was either going to be horrendous to the point of torture, or maybe, just maybe, it would take the Brady Bunch route and make fun of its predecessor. The answer came in the very first scene where a character, upon sighting "T.J. Hooker: The Movie" playing on the in-flight screen of an airline flight, bemoans yet another movie being based on an old TV show.
Quite quickly after that, a bomb-toting character is yanked off the plane - in flight - and hurtles to the ground in a scene obviously inspired by the stunt-filled openings of most James Bond films. The film then proceeds through a goofy title sequence that's obviously poking fun, in a fond way, at the same from the TV show.
That several minute sequence sets the tone for the rest of the film and tells us several important things about it. For one, it's certainly not a serious remake of the TV show - which wasn't that solemn to begin with - and needs a heaping dose of suspension of disbelief to buy into what happens and thus allow the film to get away with the stupid things that occur.
It also imparts that this is going to be a sexy, high-octane romp aimed squarely as those too young to remember the TV show, where plot, character development and any form of substance all take a back seat to style, a sassy attitude and tons of visual panache. That said, this clearly isn't your father's "Charlie's Angels," and while it's a fun, high-spirited and lively adventure, "grown ups" might not appreciate it as much as those in their teens and twenties.
Rather than take the route that many such adaptations do in telling the film's story as if it's brand new, TV commercial and music video veteran McG -- who's making his feature film debut and working from a script by screenwriters Ryan Rowe ("Tapeheads," the TV remake of "The Love Bug") & Ed Solomon ("What Planet Are You From?" "Men in Black") and John August ("Titan A.E.," "Go") - has crafted the film as if it's yet the latest season of the old show.
As such, stars Drew Barrymore ("Never Been Kissed," "Ever After"), Cameron Diaz ("Any Given Sunday," "Being John Malkovich") and Lucy Liu ("Shanghai Noon," "Play It to the Bone") have now replaced the TV regulars, but the filmmakers haven't stopped there. While the disembodied, speaker-phone based voice of John Forsythe still serves as Charlie who assigns the Angels to their latest assignments, they're now proficient with high-tech gadgets, disguises and - most prominently - high flying martial arts moves and fighting.
That said, the film comes off feeling like an estrogen-laced combination of James Bond, "Mission Impossible" and "The Matrix." While that's occasionally amusing and McG has made sure to use some sort of visual flair or effect in such scenes, they get a bit old after a while and their umpteenth use. That's especially true for the fight sequences.
While "The Matrix" wasn't the first film to use the martial arts, wire-fighting techniques (where the performers use wires to flip and somersault, etc. through the air in gravity-defying moves), it certainly popularized them for the mainstream moviegoers, just as it did with its "bullet time" shots (where we see highly stylized, slow motion close-ups of bullets in action). Since then, various films have poked fun at all of that. Although such footage here will inspire a chuckle or two, such mockery and/or homage feels late to the party and - despite being choreographed by Cheung-Yah Yuen, whose brother worked on "The Matrix" - it isn't as impressive as the "original" earlier work.
Nevertheless, McG and his stars inject enough exuberant "girl power" fun into the proceedings that such problems, along with the lack of a decent script or any semblance of three-dimensional characters, doesn't really matter that much, especially to the target audience. As was the case with the original cast members, the three young women here portray vastly different women, with Barrymore playing the sexy one, Liu the serious one and Diaz the bubbly one. While the roles certainly aren't that demanding from a thespian standpoint, the actresses seem to be having a blast playing such camp and the effect easily transfers to the audience.
For the "old timers" in the crowd, Bill Murray ("Rushmore," "Groundhog Day") has replaced David Doyle as the Bosley character and gets some good laughs with his "normal" incredulous, dead pan and feigned exasperated expressions. Sam Rockwell ("The Green Mile," "Galaxy Quest"), Kelly Lynch ("Drugstore Cowboy," "Heaven's Prisoners") and Tim Curry ("Home Alone 2," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show") are all okay in their barely developed, cartoon-like characters.
Meanwhile, George McFly, a.k.a. Crispin Glover ("Back to the Future," "River's Edge"), surprises everyone playing a mute, chain smoking hit man who often engages the Angels in some acrobatic martial arts fighting. Matt Leblanc ("Lost In Space," TV's "Friends"), Luke Wilson ("Blue Streak," "Committed") and Tom Green ("Road Trip," TV's "The Tom Green Show") also appear in what are basically extended cameos and don't really add much to the proceedings (except make the young girls swoon with delight since they know that Green is Barrymore's current significant other).
Overall, the film is certainly nothing short of stimulating to watch. If anything, and depending on your age, you may occasionally/often feel that it needs a sedative. Few scenes are calm, a blaring soundtrack - often filled with classic rock songs and/or angel-related tunes - seemingly plays nonstop and McG pulls out all the directorial stops, seemingly with every visual effect in his bag of tricks.
The end result, while clearly not for everyone's tastes, is a somewhat stupid and episodic film that's often fun to watch and does grow on you (despite it being another case of style over substance), simply due to the wacky and infectious exuberance that permeates the proceedings. And for fans of the film, there's plenty of supplemental material on the disc to inform and delight them.
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