This is the deal: I own around 350 movies on DVD and Blu-ray. Through June 10, 2015, I will be watching and writing about them all, in the order they are arranged on my shelf (i.e., alphabetically, with certain exceptions). No movie will be left unwatched . I welcome your comments, your words of encouragement and your declarations of my insanity.
Movie #49: Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
I suppose when you have a completely airheaded original movie, the sequel is almost required to be somewhat more substantive, and that’s definitely the case with Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still frothy, silly fun, but the plot is more cohesive and weightier than its predecessor. And yet it also manages to have the expected more-ness of a sequel — more explosions, more flash, more goofy costumes, etc.
First and foremost, Demi Moore makes a perfect villain. She’s entirely believable both as a former Angel (Madison Lee) and a ruthless killer. Her friendly, excited exchange with Natalie (Cameron Diaz) at the beach and her tearful, angry exchange with Charlie (John Forsythe) are two sides of a spectacular coin. Plus she’s gorgeous and her body is rockin’.
Justin Theroux is also terrifying as Seamus O’Grady, Irish mob leader and ex-boyfriend of Dylan (Drew Barrymore) back when she was still Helen Zaas (!!!), put him in jail, and went into witness protection. He’s smart, ripped, sexy, and unmerciful. Plus, that Irish accent he adopts is to die for. (He even looks good/scary in flashback braces and a mullet.) While not exactly working in concert with Madison Lee, they make a lethal tag team.
Two additions that don’t quite work for me are Shia LaBeouf as Leo/Max and Bernie Mac as the new Bosley. I understand there were personality clashes with Bill Murray in the first movie, and I definitely agree Bernie Mac is hilarious, but he seems to distract more than he should by doing his own schtick through all of his scenes. There’s one point where Alex (Lucy Liu) can’t stop giggling at him in a scene where the Angels are supposed to be more composed. And yes, this was back when LaBeouf was a normal person and a semi-popular child actor, but he’s still awkward and seems out of place — like even then, he didn’t know how to be goofy/funny in the same way as everyone else.
Full Throttle has more great cameos, though: Bruce Willis as a justice department head who gets assassinated by the character his ex-wife is playing, Eve and the Olsen twins as potential future Angels, Jaclyn Smith reprising her original TV Angel role of Kelly Garrett, Carrie Fisher as a really weird nun, Pink as a dirt bike race chick with unbelievable abs, Luke Wilson’s older brother Andrew as a somewhat incompetent cop, John Cleese as Alex’s dad who thinks she’s a prostitute, and once again the incomparable Crispin Glover as the mysterious Thin Man.
If you watch the extended cut of this movie, there’s a scene in which Glover’s character has disappeared from the alley where he supposedly falls to his death. I wrote an entire treatment for a third Angels movie to deal with the backstory and return of the Thin Man, complete with Dylan romance, based on that one throwaway shot. I still really want to produce it. Kickstarter, maybe?
Of course, while I say the plot is more substantive, I still wouldn’t recommend putting too much analysis toward it. It’s not that substantive, but it is still a lot of fun. It’s still punny and quippy and flashy and goofy and I still really love it a lot — I’ve never disliked Cameron Diaz after this came out, which is really quite an accomplishment. There’s the cock and the beaver, the ferret, Helen Zaas (!!!), Cameron Diaz in a mullet as the Angels do some elaborate CSI bit, floating titanium rings in champagne (Diaz pulling off her knife-opening party trick long before What Happens in Vegas), using broken pieces of wood as skateboards down a ship line, and Alex introducing Dylan to her father as the head of gynecology (Drew’s face is priceless).
I totally love it; I’m not ashamed.
Viable Option 