Guilty Pleasures: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
By Shalimar Sahota
July 22, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Written by – John August, Cormac Wibberley, Marianne Wibberley
Starring - Cameron Diaz (Natalie Cook), Drew Barrymore (Dylan Sanders), Lucy Liu (Alex Munday), Bernie Mac (Bosley), Crispin Glover (The Thin Man), Justin Theroux (Seamus O’Grady), Robert Patrick (Ray Carter), Demi Moore (Madison Lee), Shia LaBeouf (Max Petroni) John Cleese (Mr Munday), Luke Wilson (Pete Komisky), Matt LeBlanc (Jason Gibbons), John Forsythe (Charlie Townsend),
Length – 105 minutes
Cert - 12A / PG-13
Despite the general consensus that some films out there are truly awful, for every one that is released there will always be a small minority of us that secretly enjoys them. We all have one… or maybe seven… though we duly don’t admit to owning them for fear of wide spread embarrassment and no one talking to us ever again. However, it’s time to get it out in the open. Like admitting to having brought a Celine Dion single, (I was swept up in all the Titanic hype, I tell you), everyone has their own guilty pleasures.
The summer of 2003 saw a plethora of sequels, such as X-Men 2, The Matrix Reloaded, Terminator 3 and 2 Fast 2 Furious. Given the soundtrack, the vibrant look, the abundance of quick cuts, and director McG’s credentials, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle is very much an extended music video, yet there are moments when it comes across as a live action Looney Tunes cartoon.
So why this one and not the first? After enduring the first film, you already know not to take it all so seriously with a sequel that revels in the ridiculous. Full Throttle is so loaded with choreographed fight sequences, displays of female flesh, the occasional dance routine, explosions and Lucy Liu eating a brown bread sandwich, you'd almost forget that there's a story in there too… somewhere.
The very basic premise has Angels Natalie (Diaz), Dylan (Barrymore), and Alex (Liu) trying to retrieve a pair of titanium rings that just so happen to be a database of information that holds the identities of everyone in a Federal Witness Protection Program. Their suspicions lead them to a former angel, Madison Lee (Moore), Dylan's former boyfriend Seamus (Theroux) and a former villain from the first film, The Thin Man (Glover). Co-written by husband and wife duo, Cormac and Marianne Wibberley (who had previously scripted I Spy), they obviously don’t want you to be thinking too much when watching this. Believe me, I’ve done it, and realised that it makes little to no sense at all. It’s quite possible that McG wasn’t working from a script and just made it up as he went along.
The crazy opening scene has the Angels on a mission trying to rescue some "important person" by the name of Ray Carter (Patrick). They perform an unbelievable getaway, involving a fantastically crazy jump from a dam and starting a jet plane while it’s in freefall. All logic and sense should have disappeared from this point.
In an effort to make itself look clever, the film introduces some kind of twist, by having Ray, the owner of one of the rings, in cahoots with former Angel, Madison Lee. It makes the whole opening rescue sequence redundant. In regards to the story, it doesn't really have any reason to be there in the first place. This is just one instance of how the film is so stupidly scripted, using whatever lame excuse to link one outrageous set piece to the next. It’s also proof that if a blockbuster of this magnitude can actually get made then there's a chance for all of us to write some tosh and make it big in Hollywood.
The action is so ludicrously over the top that the film has to rely on not so special effects to achieve the unreal, resulting in plenty of moments to make you scream out, “That’s so fake.” Be it Madison throwing and kicking Dylan in mid-air, or the Angels using broken wood to slide down a bit of rope. There’s also the majority of a motocross sequence, which has to be seen to be believed. A character shoots at the Angels chasing him, by lifting himself upside-down from his bike while suspended in midair. His shots cause Natalie’s bike to explode, resulting in her doing a midair cartwheel onto Dylan’s bike. It’s insanely inventive nonsense; however, the blurry look of the effects suggests that this was rushed to meet a deadline. The budget was certainly there, though I do wonder if a $120 million blockbuster is keeping with the insane tone of the film by intentionally trying to look bad.
Now, the acting isn't exactly first rate, but it's reasonable. Diaz, Barrymore and Liu spend most of their time looking pretty for the camera, Liu in particular often shakes her head (in slow-motion) as if in a shampoo advert. The lead actresses put themselves through some rigorous stunts, so you'll see them jump through windows, fall off buildings and go through fight after fight, still managing to escape with barely a scratch on their pretty faces.
Then there's Demi Moore, who also prances around the screen wearing very little clothing while constantly showing off her almighty pair of massive gold handguns. Not having starred in anything for three years, this was bigged up as some sort of comeback role for Moore, though unusually she didn’t really come back to anything till another three years later when she starred in Emilio Estevez’s Bobby. She does look like she's enjoying herself, driving fast cars and shooting an ex in the head. Plus she seduces the use of her close-ups in an effort to let the audience know that she's still got it.
The only person that left an impression was Crispin Glover's The Thin Man. Despite the fact that he hardly says a word and has less screen time then any of the other actors, he stuck out more than anyone due to the fact that almost every scene he’s in (even his back history) is hilarious.
The comedy is Full Throttle’s forte, since it does deliver laughs, be they intentional or not. It includes your sight gags, dance routines and some expected sexual innuendo (Natalie and her boyfriend Pete reminisce about their school mascots, beaver and cock). Also a running gag of double entendres involving Alex's father, Mr Munday (played by John Cleese), finding out what his daughter does for a living may feel old and conventional but it certainly hits the right mark. Other highlights include cameo appearances from former Angel Jaclyn Smith, Carrie Fisher (in a scene that references The Blues Brothers), Bruce Willis and some sly references to Cape Fear and Terminator 2. There’s also the build up to the finale (played to the sounds of Edwyn Collins’ A Girl Like You), which is as good as the finale itself.
Taking over $250 million worldwide was a good result, though Sony Columbia was expecting more than the previous film’s $263 million across the world. During its release, Barrymore even went so far as to blame Demi Moore for the reason the film was supposedly under performing at the box office, citing how her extravagant press coverage had over-saturated the market, overshadowing the film itself.
The film won two Razzies for Worst Sequel, and Worst Supporting Actress for Demi Moore. A little more care into crafting a decent story rather than a non-existent one could have elevated this above the usual summer blockbuster trash. It's not quite the feel-good entertainment package, or maybe with age I’ve become slightly numb to dumb fun, but seeing The Thin Man get a haircut and Dylan’s trip to Mexico still makes me laugh.