Today’s quick review: Charlie’s Angels. Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Alex (Lucy Liu), and Dylan (Drew Barrymore) are the members of Charlie’s Angels, a talented team of crime-fighters organized by a mysterious millionaire. When Bosley (Bill Murray), their loyal manager, brings them a kidnapping case, the Angels must don a series of disguises to rescue Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), a tech magnate, from the clutches of his business rival Roger Corwin (Tim Curry).
Charlie’s Angels is an action movie based on the classic TV series. Charlie’s Angels aims to return the sense of fun to the action genre with its breezy plot, comedic elements, and lack of gore. The movie succeeds in keeping a light tone by never taking itself too seriously and mixing plenty of humor in with its action and intrigue. But its execution falls short, keeping the charming premise from living up to its full potential.
Charlie’s Angels offers up a healthy dose of Hollywood-style action. The phony kung fu and wire stunts can’t compete with the action of a dedicated martial arts film, but the fight scenes are entertaining nonetheless. The film finds a way to work in its fair share of big stunts, explosions, and exotic locales, and while none of these are all that impressive compared to the film’s competition, they succeed in giving Charlie’s Angels a sense of spectacle.
The action is supplemented with a steady stream of comedy. Bill Murray leads the comedy side of the movie as Bosley, the Angels’ good-natured but bumbling manager. Natalie’s innocent double entendres, Alex’s and Dylan’s doomed attempts to maintain normal relationships, and a colorful cast of supporting characters keep the humor coming. The jokes are not brilliant, but they help keep the movie interesting between action sequences.
However, the movie has a few core flaws that keep it from living up to its potential. The plot is more an excuse to drop the Angels into a series of tricky situations than a cohesive story. The dialogue is passable but not inspired, and the acting has a few rough spots. The film is packed with moments that are just slightly misjudged: stunts that are a little too fake, jokes that don’t quite land, and plot developments that don’t have quite enough impact.
The result is an entertaining but half-baked action film that makes for decent popcorn but little more. Watch Charlie’s Angels when you are in the mood to relax in front of something light. Just don’t expect too much in the way of storytelling. For an action comedy with a similar tone and better craftsmanship, check out RED.
5.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for fun action without the quality of writing or acting to let it truly excel.