andrewducker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
andrewducker) wrote2003-07-10 11:05 am
andrewducker) wrote2003-07-10 11:05 am
Charlies Angels 1&2 Review (no spoilers for anything post-credits)
I like my action movies one of two ways – uber-realistic, people dying left right and centre and the laws of both physics and statistics firmly in place or pure pantomime fun, with cigar-chewing heroes saving the world by drilling nukes into asteroids while fighting off hordes of acid-drooling aliens, armed with only a fruit knife and so much testosterone it’s coming out of their ears. Films in between leave me feeling dissatisfied, unable to suspend my disbelief on the one hand, and yet constantly pressured to take the film seriously.
So, on the one hand I rather enjoyed Saving Private Ryan and The Bourne Identity, where people die when they get shot, and nobody gets flung 50 feet into the air by an explosion, merely to roll onto their feet and keep running, on the other hand I adored Goldeneye, with it’s scarred bad guy, ludicrous stunts and campy Russian programmer (it’s when I first fell in love with Alan Cumming).
The Charlie’s Angels films definitely fall into the second category. I re-watched the first one over the weekend, just to remind myself what mood I was supposed to be in, and was very pleasantly surprised to find that the film happily stands up to repeat viewings.
The key word for the films is ‘Gratuitous’ – the plot takes up maybe a third of either film, with the rest given over to asides, humorous interjections, dance sequences and ridiculous fight scenes. What’s left is fairly simple – Angels are given a mission, carry it out, are double crossed and then save the day.
What saves the movies from the lack of cinematic weight is that they are so obviously fun. Not only do the cast look like they’re having fun (any movie in which Bill Murray and Tim Curry battle it out in Sumo costumes is an instant classic in my book), but the whole attitude of the director comes across as “Yes, it looks cool, but how can we make it look cooler?”. I’ve seen numerous post-Matrix films make use of bullet-time, but McG is the only person I’ve seen make it look good. There’s an obvious delight in having as many cool ideas as possible in the film, and as it’s _all_ gratuitous you can’t really complain about just one more wafer thin action sequence.
For instance, in the second film there’s a scene on a dam (possibly the same dam as in Goldeneye, it certainly looks similar), where the Angels, in a truck they’ve just stolen, are trapped between a tank and a man armed with a rocket launcher. As both of them fire, Cameron Diaz climbs into the back of the truck and Lucy Liu drives the truck off the side of the dam. The truck hurtles groundwards, dooming our heroines; oh, except for the helicopter hidden in the back of the truck, which everyone else grabs onto as it pulls up metres above the ground and zooms skywards (leaving the rocket team and the tank in huge explosions behind them, of course). This is the third over the top scene in that particular five minutes. And the credits haven’t even rolled yet. Take _that_ James Bond.
The second film isn’t quite up to the standard of the first one, and although there are still some fantastic moments, it could have done with another script rewrite or two, with some plot elements (the Creepy Thing Man, for instance) looking like they were added in at the last minute. Still worth seeing, but not quite as smooth a ride as the first one.
If you like this kind of thing, then you’ll love the first one and like the second. If you don’t like this kind of thing, for goodness sake don’t go!
Scores: 9/10, 6.5/10
ObQuotes:
[one of Alex's muffins is embedded in the door]
Bosley: What's this?
Dylan: Chinese fighting muffin.
Bosley: That's not funny. A friend of mine once took a Chinese fighting muffin in the chest; they sent him home in four Ziploc bags.
---
Alex Munday: I'm Alex Munday, and I'll be your rescuer today.
Carter: Do you have backup?
Alex Munday: I've got two girlfriends up in the bar.
Carter: But there's fifty armed men out there.
Alex Munday: I know. Hardly seems fair, doesn't it?
---
Dylan: And that's kicking your ass!
So, on the one hand I rather enjoyed Saving Private Ryan and The Bourne Identity, where people die when they get shot, and nobody gets flung 50 feet into the air by an explosion, merely to roll onto their feet and keep running, on the other hand I adored Goldeneye, with it’s scarred bad guy, ludicrous stunts and campy Russian programmer (it’s when I first fell in love with Alan Cumming).
The Charlie’s Angels films definitely fall into the second category. I re-watched the first one over the weekend, just to remind myself what mood I was supposed to be in, and was very pleasantly surprised to find that the film happily stands up to repeat viewings.
The key word for the films is ‘Gratuitous’ – the plot takes up maybe a third of either film, with the rest given over to asides, humorous interjections, dance sequences and ridiculous fight scenes. What’s left is fairly simple – Angels are given a mission, carry it out, are double crossed and then save the day.
What saves the movies from the lack of cinematic weight is that they are so obviously fun. Not only do the cast look like they’re having fun (any movie in which Bill Murray and Tim Curry battle it out in Sumo costumes is an instant classic in my book), but the whole attitude of the director comes across as “Yes, it looks cool, but how can we make it look cooler?”. I’ve seen numerous post-Matrix films make use of bullet-time, but McG is the only person I’ve seen make it look good. There’s an obvious delight in having as many cool ideas as possible in the film, and as it’s _all_ gratuitous you can’t really complain about just one more wafer thin action sequence.
For instance, in the second film there’s a scene on a dam (possibly the same dam as in Goldeneye, it certainly looks similar), where the Angels, in a truck they’ve just stolen, are trapped between a tank and a man armed with a rocket launcher. As both of them fire, Cameron Diaz climbs into the back of the truck and Lucy Liu drives the truck off the side of the dam. The truck hurtles groundwards, dooming our heroines; oh, except for the helicopter hidden in the back of the truck, which everyone else grabs onto as it pulls up metres above the ground and zooms skywards (leaving the rocket team and the tank in huge explosions behind them, of course). This is the third over the top scene in that particular five minutes. And the credits haven’t even rolled yet. Take _that_ James Bond.
The second film isn’t quite up to the standard of the first one, and although there are still some fantastic moments, it could have done with another script rewrite or two, with some plot elements (the Creepy Thing Man, for instance) looking like they were added in at the last minute. Still worth seeing, but not quite as smooth a ride as the first one.
If you like this kind of thing, then you’ll love the first one and like the second. If you don’t like this kind of thing, for goodness sake don’t go!
Scores: 9/10, 6.5/10
ObQuotes:
[one of Alex's muffins is embedded in the door]
Bosley: What's this?
Dylan: Chinese fighting muffin.
Bosley: That's not funny. A friend of mine once took a Chinese fighting muffin in the chest; they sent him home in four Ziploc bags.
---
Alex Munday: I'm Alex Munday, and I'll be your rescuer today.
Carter: Do you have backup?
Alex Munday: I've got two girlfriends up in the bar.
Carter: But there's fifty armed men out there.
Alex Munday: I know. Hardly seems fair, doesn't it?
---
Dylan: And that's kicking your ass!
no subject
RAAAAR!