Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
(2003) dir. McG
viewed: 10/26/03
Subtlety, thy name is not “McG”.
When I saw the “original” Charlie’s Angels (2000) in the theaters, I found it pretty fun despite its absolute crapness. I think the attitude that they were shooting for was something along the lines of, “It’s stupid, but it’s fun. If you want to critique this, then you really need to loosen up, Dude!” And, for me, it was pretty entertaining.
Round 2, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, is even more ridiculous, less adherent to most conventions of plot and narrative, and even more shamelessly empty than the first one. If the first one was fun for those reasons, then this one will be even more so.
But, this time, it just felt all the more cheap. I mean, how hard is it to pack pop culture references into scenes of motorcycle racing, surfing, and fighting, infused with low comedy and celebrity cameos. If you don’t really have to rely on a coherent narrative, all you need is different wigs and get-ups, a couple dance numbers, and a retro-infused soundtrack, filmmaking really is a snap.
When Drew Barrymore’s character tries to muster up some poorly conceived pathos over her dark past and the uncertain future of the Angels as a team, this film really shows how bad it is. It’s straight out of late Saturday afternoon syndicated comedies whose creators should perhaps be sued for war crimes.
Oh yeah, the movie’s special effects. The campy over-the-top ridiculous quality of the action, so hilariously stupid and impossible (intentionally) are played out with digital touch-ups that are so bad that they look like some first-year undergrad at State University did the stuff after hours in the lab. This is so bad that it’s insulting. Maybe there are some out there who find the cheesiness of the effects funny and campy.
Enough.
