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Stars:
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Bernie Mac, Crispin Glover, Justin
Thereoux, Robert Patrick, Demi Moore, Luke Wilson, and Matt Leblanc
Writers:
John August, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley
Based
On A Story By: John August
Director:
McG
Feature
length: 107 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary With Telestrator, Writer’s Commentary, Trivia Track,
Featurettes, Music Video, Cameo-Graphy, Filmographies, DVD-ROM Links and Web
Game, and Theatrical Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and French Language Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Korean Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
The
original “Charlie’s Angels” was a light mix of over-the-top girl power
action and laughs directed McG with music video style and the film was simply
silly, but also very fun. “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” starts off
with more of the same and it is still fun, but then what bit of a story the film
has goes south as the Angels attempt to get back two rings containing files of
all the people in the Federal Government’s Witness Protection Program and
consequently there are all these little side stories that really do not do
anything to move the story forward.
I
mean I can accept that the Angels can do things no human being outside of “The
Matrix” is capable of and I have no problem with how preposterous the film
gets because I know it is part of the fun, but at least the first film still
held together rather well even with a shoestring storyline. “Charlie’s
Angels: Full Throttle” just makes no sense after awhile. Why is Crispin
Glover’s “Thin Man” assassin back and why the hell is he helping the
Angels? I love John Cleese, but as cute as his scenes are, they do nothing to
forward the story either. Basically by the end of the film, I had no idea why
Demi Moore, whose role in the film is nothing more than an extended cameo, would
want to betray the Angels? I also never feel any sense of danger for any of the
characters and therefore the action seems more contrived. I mean I don’t
expect the heroes to die anymore than I would expect James Bond to die in a 007
flick, but at least I am enthralled by the action in a Bond film and those
flicks are as formula as they come. So as entertaining as “Charlie’s Angels:
Full Throttle” can be, it just implodes in on itself by the end of the movie
as a mediocre sequel to what has not the greatest original TV to feature film
jump to begin with. Highlights of the film are seeing just how fantastic
physical shape Demi Moore is in and Bernie Mack’s combination of humor and
heart that he brings to his portrayal of Bosley.” Evidently, Bill Murray’s
Bosley is his white adapted brother off participating on the latest season of
“Survivor” so now Bernie Mack’s Bosley is filling in for him while he’s
away.
I
did not see “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” in the theaters so I cannot
tell you all what the difference between the theatrical and unrated versions
are, but I don’t think there was anything too sexy or too violent for a summer
popcorn movie in this cut. The DVD for “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”
should have been a two-disc set release instead of a single dual layered DVD
because the extra features take away from the amount of space allotted for the
sound and picture as Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has proven to the
entire DVD-Video industry with their stellar “Superbit” series of films on
DVD. Despite being down converted from a high definition master, the image
quality is little better than okay, with a bit of compression grain visible in
much of the film, even in the lightest and most colorful sequences.
“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” is presented in an anamorphic widescreen
(2.40:1) aspect ratio that preserves the film’s theatrical exhibition format
as close as possible for home video users. The English Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Soundtrack is also just okay and not as aggressive or vibrant as it
should have been. To be blunt, the sound and picture on the original
“Charlie’s Angels: Special Edition” DVD from 2000 is better than this new
release. Even the trailer included for “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”
has a more aggressive 5.1 soundtrack than the actual theatrical presentation on
this DVD.
A
French Language Dolby Surround Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French and Korean Language
Subtitles are encoded as options onto the DVD too. Director McG delivers a
screen specific audio commentary complete with a telestrator to circle what
he’s talking about and there is also a feature length screenwriters’
commentary and even an onscreen trivia track, but in all honesty, considering
“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” is a mediocre film at best, I am forced
to ask, are three commentaries really necessarily and will anyone actually want
to view the film three times in a row? I realize that I may be too harsh on this
DVD, but I can’t see anyone except for maybe a super diehard fan really
wanting to go through listening to both commentaries and then activating the
anecdote trivia commentary to boot.
The
other extra features on this DVD include a short on the Hansen Dam sequence,
which stood in for a dam in Mongolia and serves as the film’s opening action
sequence as well as the setting for the teaser trailer for the film (4:06). Next
is a costume design short entitled “Dream Duds” (4:11), and that is followed
by a list of various star cameos in the film complete with short clips from
where they appear. There are actually a lot more cameos and guest appearances in
the film than are actually listed here. McG’s Jukebox gives short
introductions on why the particular song was used where it was in the film and
is then followed by clips from the film where the song is featured.
There’s
a behind-the-scenes look at the “Pussycat Dolls” sequence (4:55) followed by
a fighting stunt featurette (6:07) and a featurette focusing on the bike race
scene (9:04) as well as production (17:50) and a look at the producer’s
responsibilities in making a film like “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”
(8:50).
PC
DVD-ROM users will have access to a “Charlie’s Angels: Angel X” online
game as well as the “Shop-The-Scene” feature where any woman could by
clothes and dress like an Angel. There is also a phone number 1 (866) 96A-NGEL
that enables those without a DVD-ROM to inquire about what possible limited
edition items may be available and purchase them. The music video for “Feel
Good Time” with Pink and William Orbit (4:17) and filmographies for the cast
and filmmakers round up the extra value material along with trailers for
“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2:32), “Charlie’s Angels” (2:34),
“Bad Boys II” (2:31), “Mona Lisa Smile” (2:32), “Something’s Gotta
Give” (2:13) and “S.W.A.T.” (1:22). Four of the extra value features are
exclusive to only the unrated version of the film on DVD.
The
main menu is animated with animated transitions to the bonus features and scene
selection menus. All of the subsequent menus are standard interactive still
frame menus and all of the interactive menus on this DVD are easy to navigate.
“Charlie’s
Angels: Full Throttle” is still an entertaining film, but since it loses focus
nearly halfway through, it seems like more of a let down with the features all
scrunched onto one disc adding to the problem since the sound and picture
quality are not as good as one usually gets from Columbia TriStar Home
Entertainment’s DVD releases. I suggest this as a rental first and a purchase
for only those completists who have to add the sequel to their libraries or
diehard fans of the feature film series in general. If there is ever a third
film, I hope the filmmakers will realize that what made the first film fun was
that we knew it was not meant to be taken seriously, but the viewer was still
thrilled and actually follow the story while accepting it for what it was.
“Full Throttle” simply doesn’t have its angel wings. “Charlie’s
Angels: Full Throttle: Unrated Widescreen Special Edition” will debut on DVD-Video
on Tuesday, October 22, 2003 from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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