Released: Nov. 3, 2000

Version: Video

Length: 98 min.

Rated: PG-13

Main Cast: Drew Barrymore (Dylan), Cameron Diaz (Natalie), Lucy Liu (Alex), John Forsythe (Charlie), Bill Murray (Bosley), Tim Curry (Roger Corwin), Crispin Glover (The Thin Man), Tom Green (The Chad), LL Cool J (African-American Dylan), Matt LeBlanc (Alex's boyfriend), Kelly Lynch (Vivian Wood), Sam Rockwell (Knox)

When I first saw previews for this movie, I thought that it looked really cool. Maybe a little risqué, but interesting nonetheless. I mean, there just aren’t many American movies that have chicks doing "Kung Fu." Well, it isn’t as cool as I thought it would be. Instead, it’s very corny and fake. And I should warn you, the reader, that as usual, I will tell quite a bit about the movie, so if you want to be surprised, don’t read this review!

We start out up high in the air where we find a large passenger jet. It looks fake, so it’s probably bad CGI. Anyway, we go in and see lots of people and hear an epithet or two. We meet our first character, a big black dude who talks about angels. He "kidnaps" a guy with a bomb on his chest by jumping out the escape hatch with him. They fall and are rescued by Alex (Lucy Liu) who jumps from a nearby helicopter.

They get rid of the bomb and land on a fast boat (yes, they are over the ocean!) driven by Natalie (Cameron Diaz). It’s an interesting beginning, but if you’re into realism, then this scene won’t impress you. I liked it though.

Anyway, we get introduced to the characters then and see what they were like before they became Angels. We also see them in a bunch of different costumes before we finally get to the movie.

Now we learn what their love interests are and what they do when they aren’t working for Charlie. Ugh. Alex and Dylan (Drew Barrymore) both have dumb boyfriends. But enough of that. They get summoned to Angel HQ and find out about their next assignment from Bosley (Bill Murray) and Charlie (via speakers, of course…and played by John Forsythe). Somebody named Knox (Sam Rockwell) gets kidnapped. He’s a software developer and his partner, Vivian Wood (Kelly Lynch) hires the Angels to recover him and the software that was stolen.

They suspect a guy known as Roger Corwin (Tim Curry), but I’m not really sure why. Anyway, they go and investigate him in various costumes and somehow learn about one of his people that they dub, The Thin Man (Crispin Glover). This guy is very creepy and makes a cool bad guy! Well, they go to some banquet with Bosley and Bosley and Corwin get into a discussion. They eventually get into a Sumo wrestling contest. Why? I have no idea. It’s weird! The Angels find the Thin Man and chase him down for an interesting fight. There’s lots of slo-mo here and odd camera angles, but it’s still cool even if it is fake.

The Thin Man escapes and they find Knox. After some yakking about how to get into Corwin’s main database (which is "impossible") the Angels get in some more costumes and get the "keys." Then they go into the computer room…well, not all of them. Alex keeps all the geeks occupied by looking svelte and sexy.

SPOILER: (If you want, just skip to the "Good Stuff, etc. section)

Now we find out that we were being played for fools. Corwin isn’t the real bad guy. It’s actually Wood and Knox! ARRR!!!! The Angel’s are all attacked and Dylan looks like she gets killed. She’s by far the dumbest Angel. She sleeps with the enemy, shows her bust off to distract a chauffeur, and rolls down a dark hillside naked. (Luckily it’s nearly impossible to make anything out…if you have a DVD player on the other hand…)

Well, to put it simply, Knox wants Charlie dead. And he needed Corwin’s database so he could use a GPS system to help him track down Charlie with his own voice-recognition software. Yeah, it’s a little complicated. Thus, they capture Bosley since he’s the only one that Charlie calls directly.

Onward! Knox goes to his hideout, a mansion by the sea. The Angels track them down by listening to Bosley’s lousy description of the place…actually, they find it because of a nuthatch. Bah! STUPID!

Anyway, the Angel’s split up and beat up all of Knox’s men including The Thin Man. They also free Bosley. Then they chase down Knox, in his chopper. Of course, they stop him too, duh!

OK, time to finish this up:

I liked the movie even though it was dumb. But I don’t recommend it for young viewers. It’s probably not good for older ones either, but take what you will.

STORY:  (This story was fairly predictable, but there was at least one significant twist!)

VIOLENCE:  (It's a little nasty to see chicks kicked and punched!)

SEXUAL CONTENT:   (Lots of skimpy outfits or no outfits at all, in Barrymore's case. There's also a few bed scenes that are assumed...)

SFX: 1/2 (Matrix-like fight scenes and some good pyrotechnics are what you can look forward to in this flick!)

LANGUAGE: (There's some more lame-o not-needed swearing. ARR!)

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