The Movie
Spy movies have somewhat fallen out of favor since the decline of the James Bond series, with the only recent espionage hits being big action blow-ups like The Bourne Identity and spoofs like Austin Powers. Without an enemy as defined and fearful as Russia, the world of cinematic spying has lost a bit of its juice.

D.E.B.S. injects the genre with some new energy by changing just who can be a spy. Instead of a British guy in a tux or...a British guy in a leisure suit, these spies wear traditional schoolgirl outfits, complete with the kinds of tiny skirts that can be added to Paris Hilton's list of wondrous accomplishments. Instead of experienced, skilled and cold-blooded spies, these young ladies are just learning the ropes, chosen to be a part of D.E.B.S. Academy thanks to a hidden test inside the SATs. D.E.B.S. is already three steps ahead of the pack in originality.

The main group, led by Mr. Phipps (Michael Clarke Duncan) and Mrs. Petrie (Holland Taylor), is made up of a rainbow coalition of women, including tough-as-nails leader Max (Meagan Good), scholarly Amy (Sara Foster), innocent Janet (Jill Ritchie) and cigarette-smoking, man-seducing French Asian girl Dominique (Devon Aoki). Though they are training to defend the world, they are just like your average college-aged American woman. It's the clash between their everyday lives, including guys, and their superspy lives that leads to comedy. For example, when the girls are on a stakeout, they bicker and joke like it's a slumber party.

Now, this could have become just a junior-varsity Charlie's Angels, but a twist involving the Academy's most dangerous foe, Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster) makes this film stand out from the pack. Diamond is something of a JV version of Demi Moore's character from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. When her blind date is interrupted by the D.E.B.S., she finds herself attracted to Amy, which creates problems for both her criminal organization and for the D.E.B.S., as Amy is similarly attracted, and has to decide whether to follow her heart or live up to people's expectations for her.

This romance makes the film a unique take on the interplay between heroes and villains, and this plot makes the movie different, but it could have been mined for more laughs. It seems like once the Amy/Lucy subplot began, the movie began to take itself a bit more seriously, which is a shame, especially since this really isn't a "lesbian movie." It's more like a movie with a couple of lesbians in it.

Written and directed by Angela Robinson, the director of the upcoming Herbie remake, as an adaptation of her short film of the same name, the film is quite appealing visually, an impressive piece of work considering the film's budget. Despite similar uniforms, The D.E.B.S.'s individuality is established visually and is played well for laughs, especially Aoki's Dominique, who has an omnipresent cigarette hanging from her lip, and Janet, the innocent rookie whose wide-eyed reactions are always good for a laugh. Even the action scenes, which are relatively big for the budget, look very good, aside from some weak computer-animated sparks.

The DVD
D.E.B.S. gets a one-disc DVD release, which arrives home in a standard keepcase. The disc starts with a piece of animation that leads into the static anamorphic widescreen menus, which feature options to play the film, setup the languages, select scenes and view special features and previews. Language options include English 5.1 and French 2.0 Surround tracks, English and French subtitles and English closed captioning, while the scene selection menus have still previews and titles for each scene. After selecting the play film option on the main menu, there is a choice to view the widescreen or full-frame version of the film.

The Quality
Shot on HD video, this anamorphic widescreen film looks extremely clean, with a good level of detail and a very nice color palette. Occasionally, there's some noise and a touch of edge enhancement, but overall, it's a crystal clear presentation without a hint of dirt or damage.

The 5.1 audio is extremely dynamic, with plenty of material for the surround speakers to play with. As an action-type flick, the sound effects and music are powerful parts of the mix, and this presentation delivers in a big way. The dialogue is just as good, delivered clearly by the mix.

The Extras
The one extra I was really hoping for is not included on this DVD, and that's the original short-film version of D.E.B.S.. It's absence is a big disappointment.

Two feature-length, screen specific audio commentaries are included, one with director Angela Robinson, and one with actresses Sara Foster, Jordana Brewster, Jill Ritchie and Meagan Good (but not Devon Aoki.) Robinson, as the film's auteur, brings plenty of knowledge about the film, especially in terms of the technical aspects, which she shares in a soft, relaxed voice. There are some pauses, but it's a good example of a quality one-person commentary.

The actresses' track is more of a chat between friends, as the girls giggle and joke, and share their thoughts on the acting process, what went into their work in the film and how bad the sun is for your skin. While there's next to no dead air in this track, there's the dreaded "that's great" syndrome at work. The actresses' enthusiasm is obvious and it helps give the commentary a good energy.

"Infiltrating D.E.B.S." is a pretty decent behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. In just over 12 minutes, the history of the concept, the short film and the feature film is discussed, and explored via interviews with Robinson, most of the cast and some executives. Aoki is a bit too preachy about the "power" of the film, and the quality of the video is pretty bad, but there's a good amount of background info about the movie.

The Deleted Scenes sections includes a slightly different version of the film's love scene, done with more sensuality, a monologue by Dominique and five other moments cut from the film. They can only be viewed in one lump, without titles or context. Nothing here would have improved the film, though some in the audience would have liked to see the extended love scene.

The rest of the special features are bits and pieces from the film's production, including a music video for The Weekend's "Into the Morning," done D.E.B.S. style, five minutes of animatics, a stills gallery (featuring some fake PSA-style posters) and Robinson's original D.E.B.S. comic-book concept (which is unfortunately too small to read.) Some Sony trailers wrap up the package.

The Bottom Line
A feel-good spy spoof for most of the film, D.E.B.S. finally succumbs to the temptation to be a real dramatic film, which is a bit of a disappointment, considering how good the spoof is. The characters the film is populated with are fun, and the jokes are enjoyable. Throw in a unique concept with a superspy twist, and the end result is a breezy hour and a half of fun, with plenty of eyecandy for a low-budget film. In addition to a well-produced presentation, there's a nice amount of special features on the DVD (though the short film is missing.) This is an entertaining Friday night pick-up, as long as you're cool with the idea of young women in love (with each other.)

Follow him on Twitter

*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.