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Charlie's Angels
Columbia/Tri-Star // PG-13 // March 27, 2001
List Price: $27.96 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
I've never been too keen on over-the-top action flicks, and "Charlie's Angels" didn't do much to change my mind. Despite a slew of negative reviews, the film turned out to be a massive box office success. Much like the original series, it's not difficult to find faults with "Charlie's Angels", but I'm one of those zany people who feel that movies are best reviewed in terms of the goals the filmmakers set out to accomplish. The original pitch probably wasn't much different than the Rolling Stone quote emblazoned on the cover: "Babe-a-licious with relentless action!" Its director's music video origins shine through -- according to the liner notes, McG has directed nearly 50 music videos, although nearly all the ones I've seen have been almost interchangable. Despite the ridiculously lame nickname he insists on using, McG provides exactly the sort of direction and feel "Charlie's Angels" requires to succeed. "Charlie's Angels" is the sort of overblown action flick that defines summer moviegoing, and taken solely for what it is, "Charlie's Angels" is pretty damn good.
There's not much of a plot to speak of. Charlie, who only appears as a disembodied voice and brief Dr. Claw-esque shots, communicates with his team of three 'angels' (it's never quite explained why he refers to them as such) via speakers and his right-hand man, Bosley, played to perfection by Bill Murray. The angels, played by Cameron Diaz, producer Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, are willing to go to any bizarre length necessary to solve a case. The CEO of a hip, new telecommunications start-up is kidnapped and his voice identification software stolen, and the Angels have to stop his software from being combined with a satellite system that can (gasp!) track the source of any call made from a cellphone anywhere on Earth! That's oversimplifying it a tad, but movies like this always have oodles of plot twists and slews of red herrings, and it's not worth spoiling anything in this review. "Charlie's Angels" isn't intended to be taken seriously, and it's probably safe to assume that anyone who goes in without an extremely negative attitude will come out at least a little satisfied.
Video: I'm not sure how many widescreen music videos I've seen on DVD, but I am positive that none of them have been widescreen-enhanced. "Charlie's Angels" is, not surprisingly, anamorphic, and it's probably as close as I'm ever likely to get to a 16x9-enhanced music video. Like pretty much everything else McG has ever done, the colors are extremely bright and vibrant. The image is extremely detailed and virtually free of flaws. I think the transfer might be exaggerating some of the eccentricities of the visual aspects of the film, but not having seen "Charlie's Angels" theatrically, I can't really compare...
Audio: An extremely aggressive mix, "Charlie's Angels" makes extensive and effective use of all...well, 5 out of 6...channels, sucking me into the film and every frame of action. I had to fiddle with the subwoofer some to get the low-end to sound right. There was enough bass coming from the front speakers to knock some pictures off the wall before any adjustments were made, but it's a mild irritant to have to fiddle with settings to do the sort of structural damage a disc like this should be capable of right off the bat.
Supplements: Wow...a huge list. Starting with the endless barrage of featurettes, "Getting G'd Up" is to "Charlie's Angels" what "Tarsem: Style Over Substance" was to "The Cell" -- mostly just endless praise, with Bill Murray making some hilarious quips. "The Masters And The Angels" focuses on the wire-fu with Cheung Yan Yuen, and "Welcome To The Angel World" gives some background as to the artificial Angel World McG set out to create. Sounds like quite a bit already, yet I'm only halfway through with the featurettes. "Angelic Attire" takes a look into the outfits in the movie, and the two remaining bits deal with effects, including one scene before being digitally spiffed-up.
Barenaked Ladies and Fastball both made fun of McG after he directed their videos, so I was expecting him to act like somewhat of an ass before viewing the 400 featurettes and listening to the commentary track, which also includes cinematographer Russell Carpenter. The two offer a perfect mix of technical comments and Zany Anecodes™, and unlike most first-time commentaries, nearly every second is filled with some sort of comment or conversation.
There are three deleted scenes -- "Marco Polo" makes great use of the comedic talents of Murray and Tim Curray, and it's a shame that it was excised from the final cut. "The Men's Room" scene is pretty awful, and I don't have too much in the positive column to say for "Extra Shake and Bake". Maybe those are due to my intense dislike of Drew Barrymore. I think the outtakes and bloopers are the same as the credits, with Blink-182's "All The Small Things" (or "Theeengs" as Tom DeLonge pronounces it) playing on top, but I didn't mind much since I played through the original credits at 8X-speed anyway. And the rest -- music videos by Destiny's Child and Apollo Four Forty, production notes, cast/crew bios, and a trailer gallery.
Conclusion: There's very little doubt in my mind that this disc will debut at #1 and hold that spot for quite a while. I'm not overly fond of "Charlie's Angels" itself, the sort of movie I enjoy seeing once but lack any urge to want to sit through a second time. The DVD is spectacular, though, and there are enough special features to make it worthy of a purchase over a rental for the countless people looking forward to another Angels helping. Definitely recommended.
There's not much of a plot to speak of. Charlie, who only appears as a disembodied voice and brief Dr. Claw-esque shots, communicates with his team of three 'angels' (it's never quite explained why he refers to them as such) via speakers and his right-hand man, Bosley, played to perfection by Bill Murray. The angels, played by Cameron Diaz, producer Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu, are willing to go to any bizarre length necessary to solve a case. The CEO of a hip, new telecommunications start-up is kidnapped and his voice identification software stolen, and the Angels have to stop his software from being combined with a satellite system that can (gasp!) track the source of any call made from a cellphone anywhere on Earth! That's oversimplifying it a tad, but movies like this always have oodles of plot twists and slews of red herrings, and it's not worth spoiling anything in this review. "Charlie's Angels" isn't intended to be taken seriously, and it's probably safe to assume that anyone who goes in without an extremely negative attitude will come out at least a little satisfied.
Video: I'm not sure how many widescreen music videos I've seen on DVD, but I am positive that none of them have been widescreen-enhanced. "Charlie's Angels" is, not surprisingly, anamorphic, and it's probably as close as I'm ever likely to get to a 16x9-enhanced music video. Like pretty much everything else McG has ever done, the colors are extremely bright and vibrant. The image is extremely detailed and virtually free of flaws. I think the transfer might be exaggerating some of the eccentricities of the visual aspects of the film, but not having seen "Charlie's Angels" theatrically, I can't really compare...
Audio: An extremely aggressive mix, "Charlie's Angels" makes extensive and effective use of all...well, 5 out of 6...channels, sucking me into the film and every frame of action. I had to fiddle with the subwoofer some to get the low-end to sound right. There was enough bass coming from the front speakers to knock some pictures off the wall before any adjustments were made, but it's a mild irritant to have to fiddle with settings to do the sort of structural damage a disc like this should be capable of right off the bat.
Supplements: Wow...a huge list. Starting with the endless barrage of featurettes, "Getting G'd Up" is to "Charlie's Angels" what "Tarsem: Style Over Substance" was to "The Cell" -- mostly just endless praise, with Bill Murray making some hilarious quips. "The Masters And The Angels" focuses on the wire-fu with Cheung Yan Yuen, and "Welcome To The Angel World" gives some background as to the artificial Angel World McG set out to create. Sounds like quite a bit already, yet I'm only halfway through with the featurettes. "Angelic Attire" takes a look into the outfits in the movie, and the two remaining bits deal with effects, including one scene before being digitally spiffed-up.
Barenaked Ladies and Fastball both made fun of McG after he directed their videos, so I was expecting him to act like somewhat of an ass before viewing the 400 featurettes and listening to the commentary track, which also includes cinematographer Russell Carpenter. The two offer a perfect mix of technical comments and Zany Anecodes™, and unlike most first-time commentaries, nearly every second is filled with some sort of comment or conversation.
There are three deleted scenes -- "Marco Polo" makes great use of the comedic talents of Murray and Tim Curray, and it's a shame that it was excised from the final cut. "The Men's Room" scene is pretty awful, and I don't have too much in the positive column to say for "Extra Shake and Bake". Maybe those are due to my intense dislike of Drew Barrymore. I think the outtakes and bloopers are the same as the credits, with Blink-182's "All The Small Things" (or "Theeengs" as Tom DeLonge pronounces it) playing on top, but I didn't mind much since I played through the original credits at 8X-speed anyway. And the rest -- music videos by Destiny's Child and Apollo Four Forty, production notes, cast/crew bios, and a trailer gallery.
Conclusion: There's very little doubt in my mind that this disc will debut at #1 and hold that spot for quite a while. I'm not overly fond of "Charlie's Angels" itself, the sort of movie I enjoy seeing once but lack any urge to want to sit through a second time. The DVD is spectacular, though, and there are enough special features to make it worthy of a purchase over a rental for the countless people looking forward to another Angels helping. Definitely recommended.
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