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| Charlie's Angels (2002)
  
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, Bill Murray Director: McG Rating: PG-13 Category: Action/Comedy  |
"Charlie's Angels" may have been one of the worst film ideas in history. Fortunately for the movie, it had an energetic director and an explosive cast (all the way down to the supporting roles) to make this first TV-to-film outing a complete success.
Taking place after the original "Charlie's Angels" TV series, the audience is introduced to three new Angels, a trio that favors martial arts instead of guns while still holding true to the classic Angel persona, selecting three beautifully unique actresses to serve the tastes of all men. Natalie (Cameron Diaz) is the pretty but dorky blonde bombshell, Alex (Lucy Liu), the super-intelligent and proper brunette, and Dylan (Drew Barrymore), the off-the-wall rebel and redheaded firecracker. Chaperoning the three ladies around town during their missions is still good, old Bosley, this time played brilliantly by Bill Murray.
The Angels' newest mission involves a rich, young computer entrepreneur, Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), who has recently been kidnapped by an unknown group out to steal his blueprints for a voice identification software program that can turn any cell phone into a homing device. The prime suspect in the kidnapping is Roger Corwin (played with zest by Tim Curry), another rich businessman known for his risqu business techniques.
"Charlie's Angels" may be the ultimate popcorn flick. Director McG, whose rsum includes music videos and a handful of commercials, really shines in his first big-screen adventure. He takes sex and action where it's never been, glossing his Angels in sexy outfits, fresh one-liners and an array of ass-kicking action sequences. McG's explosive use of colors never allows for a dry spell, and even when the plot seems to tail off a bit, you'll still find yourself stuck in your seat mesmerized by his artful and wild direction. Point made: this is not one to miss.
DVD review:
The DVD for the box-office smash "Charlie's Angels" is almost as much of a treat as the film itself, smothered with making-of featurettes that'll make you feel like a real Hollywood know-it-all. To start off, the film is presented in some pretty sharp video quality, taking great advantage of McG's use of extensive coloring throughout his film. The colors really just explode on your little TV set just like it did in the theaters.
But who am I kidding, do anyone of us really buy these Special Edition DVDs for the impressive video quality? Okay, so maybe there are some of us that do, but the other 99% of us buy it for the extras, and boy does this have some nice extras. As usual, a really informative director and cinematographer commentary is available to listen to, explaining almost every aspect of each shot -- very nice for the film buffs out there. The rest of the featurettes are as follows: a look at director McG; the martial arts choreography of Master Cheung-Yan Yuen (brother of Woo-Ping from "The Matrix"); a view of the Angel World; the wardrobe used for each Angel; SFX, scene-by-scene; a special on how the Hong Kong wire-work was used and integrated; three so-so deleted scenes; and two music videos with music from the film. That's a lot to take in all at once, so it may take you a while to get through them all. But this DVD is definitely worth a viewing, not only for the amazingly entertaining film, but for the awesome extras attached to it as well.
~Jason Zingale
jzingale@bullz-eye.com
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