@ the Movies -- Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

Am old enough to have seen the original television series. I saw the first film on KABC-7 earlier this year. It was good tongue-in-cheek fun. However, I heard the second big-screen version lacked the charm of the first film.

Indeed, the critics and my friends who saw it were right. Adding salt and spices to food is what makes cooking so enjoyable. In movies, the same is true. Overdo it and you foul up the whole dish. In the first film, there was the Matrix-like martial arts stuff, the double entendre and liberal use of the stars attributes and it worked reasonably well. The film had no aspirations to high art and knew it and played to its sense of fun.

However, in this film, they took all those ingredients and overdo all of it and drown out what little charm and chemistry the three stars have with each other.

It is appearant right from opening action sequence that they simply didn't have the money to make the special effects look as good as the Matrix. It became somewhat cartoony. As for the double entendre, they went to that well too often.

Diaz, Barrymore and Liu are all very likable in the first film. In this film, they don't quite shine through as much as they are going through the paces of the action sequences. No getting around the fact they are very beautiful (I am a male move goer after all) but attractiveness and charm is BOTH good looks and a winning personality.

On a scale of four stars, two. A sideways thumb. See on video if you are really bored or at matinee rates at your local theatre.