CHARLIE'S ANGELS
FULL THROTTLE

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bernie Mac, Demi Moore, Luke Wilson, Matt LeBlanc, Crispin Glover, Robert Patrick, Robert Foster, John Cleese and the voice of John Forsyth

Director:
McG

Running Time:
105 mins

Out to buy on DVD 17th November 2003

After rescuing the head of the US Marshall Department Ray Carter (Patrick) from Mongolian terrorists, Angels Natalie (Diaz), Dylan (Barrymore) and Alex (Liu) discover that his kidnapping was part of a plan to steal Halo, the US key to the Witness Protection Programme. The Halo key consists of two rings, one held by Carter and the other by the Head of Security for the Justice Department. When both of them end up missing and witnesses start turning up dead, it is up to the Angels and Bosley (Mac) to find out who is behind it.

Adrenalin filled, switch your brain off at the door, action movies don't come much dafter than this but you can't help having fun.

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is more of the same. Big fights, huge stunts and lots of slow motion shots of the scantily clad girls. Director McG, with a slightly larger budget this time around, takes the action up a notch but of course does nothing with the story. Again the film looks more like an extended pop video, with the flimsy plot just serving as the less than tacky glue that holds the action scenes together. If fact it feels like some things are missing, probably still on the cutting room floor, that would have filled in some of the gaps and plumped up the decidingly thin storyline. For example, why was The Thin Man (Crispin Glover) in the movie and who were the Angels saving at the dirt bike contest?

Story aside, there is still plenty of fun to be had with this movie. The three Angels look like they are really enjoying their roles. All three of them do come across as genuine friends who would go that little bit further, even at the risk of their lives but it is the fun element that pushes the movie out of the average category. As well as all the action, there is time for comedy as well. Coming from the Angels, the new Bosley, the excellent but slightly underused Bernie Mac and the numerous celebrity cameos, the comedy in this film is one thing the writers have got right. The running gag with John Cleese as Alex's Dad, for example is very well done and extremely funny.

The much heralded return of the cosmetically enhanced Demi Moore as fallen Angel Madison Lee is good but she is sadly underused. Still looking striking and not at all plastic (money well spent), she holds her own with the younger Angels but it is a shame that the writers didn't give her more to do as she made an excellent villainess.

All in all Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a no brainer, disposable action movie that is filled to the brim with stunts, gags and not much else. It isn't a movie that you will remember for the rest of your life or probably even the rest of the day after you've watched it but there are worst way of spending you time that are a lot less fun than this.

Director McG's telestrator commentary
Writer's audio commentary
'Designing Angels' featurette: the look of 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'
'Dream Duds' featurette: the costumes
'Full Throttle' featurette: the cars of 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'
'Angel Scouts' location featurette
'There's No Such Thing as a Short Shot, Only an Overworked Producer' featurette
'Angels Makeover: Hansen Dam' featurette
'Rolling With The Punches' featurette
'Pussycat Dolls' featurette: a profile on Robin Antin
'XXX-treme Angels' featurette: the Angels and the moto-cross scene
'Angel Vision' trivia track
Pink featuring William Orbit 'Feel Good Time music video
Director McG interviews various crew members
Menu-driven list of the soundtrack songs
Menu-driven list of the celebrity cameos
Easter Eggs (hidden features)
Angels Film School
Interactive menu & Scene access


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2003