Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

McG

Writers (WGA):

Ivan Goff (television series) and
Ben Roberts (television series) ...

Release Date:

27 June 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

This summer the Angels are back.

Plot:

The Angels investigate a series of murders that occur after the theft of a witness protection profile database. Their prime suspects? A "fallen angel" who was once their ally and the Creepy Thin Man.

Plot Keywords:

Witness Protection | Disguise | Ring | Witness Protection Program | Martial Arts

Awards:

7 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Cameron Diaz	...	Natalie Cook
Drew Barrymore	...	Dylan Sanders
Lucy Liu	...	Alex Munday
Bernie Mac	...	Jimmy Bosley
Crispin Glover	...	Thin Man
Justin Theroux	...	Seamus O'Grady
Robert Patrick	...	Ray Carter
Demi Moore	...	Madison Lee
Rodrigo Santoro	...	Randy Emmers
Shia LaBeouf	...	Max
Matt LeBlanc	...	Jason
Luke Wilson	...	Pete
John Cleese	...	Mr. Munday
Ja'net DuBois	...	Momma Bosley
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	Deranged Mongol

Also Known As:

Charlie's Angels 2 (USA) (working title)
Charlie's Angels: Halo (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for action violence, sensuality and language/innuendo.

Runtime:

106 min | 107 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #38873) | Iceland:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18PL | South Africa:10V | South Korea:12 | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Germany:16 (extended version) | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (cut) | UK:12 (video rating) (2003) (cut) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version)

Filming Locations:

Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Drew Barrymore really wanted Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" in a flashback scene. However, the rights to the song were too expensive, so Barrymore called Jon Bon Jovi told him how much she loved the song and how important it was to her that it be in the scene, and Bon Jovi found a loophole to enable them to use the song.

Goofs:

Continuity: During opening sequence, the screws of the box that Alex is hidden in are located away from the box's edges. After the box cover is open, the box is quite thin and screws located that far away from the edge would not hold the box together.

Quotes:

[Dylan, undercover as a nun, is eyeing a sexy young priest]
Alex Munday: [under her breath] Thornbirds.

Movie Connections:

References Daddy Day Care (2003)

Soundtrack:

Thunder Kiss '65

Is This What the Movies Have Come To?

Attacking `Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle' is a bit like shooting secret agents in a barrel; there's just not a lot of sport in it because it's way too easy to do.

Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore return as the giggly, jiggly trio who, we're supposed to believe, are amazing, expert crime fighters. About the only way this material stands even a chance of succeeding is if the filmmakers treat it like some over-the-top, live action cartoon (or is it video game?) - which is pretty much what they've done. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a cartoon almost totally devoid of wit, creativity and charm. The plot mainly consists of finding ways to get the girls into campy costumes and situations. Thus we have the angels as nuns, the angels as welders, the angels as exotic dancers. The problem is that this cutesiness wears awfully thin after awhile, especially since that is pretty much all the screenplay manages to come up with in the way of entertainment.

The stunt sequences – which consist mainly of tedious slow-motion shots of the girls flipping through the air, karate-chopping the bad guys and dodging bullets - are so excessive in nature that we begin to understand what a detrimental effect `The Matrix' (however inadvertently) has had on filmmaking in the past few years. When any physical action - no matter how contrary to the laws of physics and gravity - is possible, how are we supposed to care what happens to the people involved? If no one seems to be in any real danger, all possible suspense is eliminated and we are left admiring the work of the special effects team and very little else. The `Charlie's Angels' films are not alone in this regard, but they do serve as handy warning signs of the potentially debilitating effect of this trend on the future of action movies.

About halfway through the film, Jaclyn Smith, one of the angels from the original TV series, shows up to dispense some veteran advice to one of our intrepid little cherubs. Though long past her prime, Smith is so goddess-y beautiful in her brief moments on screen that, not only does she outclass all three of the leading players, but she makes us, heaven forbid, even feel a twinge of nostalgia – however faint - for the original series. Frankly, I didn't think that was possible. Credit the makers of this fiasco for achieving at least that much with their film.