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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle |
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WEB EDITOR'S NOTE:
This film contains strong sexual content. This
review references that content and is not
appropriate for children.
While it’s a noble
thing to battle villainous foes,
with Angels 2, nobility is a distant
second cousin to skin. Think of Full
Throttle as a big-screen version of a
Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
Is it really necessary to be half-dressed—or in
some cases undressed—to
kick, punch and pummel bad guys? Is there a
compelling reason to have all three
angels break out of a sculpture in the
nude?
As for plot points: The new identities of
every person on the Federal Witness
Protection Program are encrypted on two
silver bands. Only as a result of these rings
being united can the information be accessed.
So when they wind up in the hands of a fallen
Charlie’s angel (Madison), major crime
syndicates are more than willing to shell out
big bucks for them. To foil the plan, the "good"
angels (Natalie, Dylan and Alex) go
undercover, discovering in the process that
Dylan is actually a federally protected witness
herself (having watched a
former-boyfriend-now-bad-guy kill someone).
•
positive elements: Nothing that can
stand without qualification. Charlie’s angels
are dedicated to fighting crime, no matter what
the cost. But that commitment is taken to
outlandish extremes. Alex’s relationship with
her father is one of respect and affection.
Unfortunately, deception and dishonesty are
used to "help" it along. And his devotion for her
includes an unhealthy tolerance of
perversity.
•
spiritual content: A tattoo reads, "Only
God Will Judge Me." Madison excuses her fall
to the dark side with, "Why be an angel when I
can play God." In the trio’s final martial arts
match against the ring keepers, Natalie
shouts at Madison, "Go to hell!"
•
sexual content:
Inappropriate—sometimes
perverse—sexuality, nudity, immodesty and
strong innuendo stretch the PG-13 limits big
time. Many of the angels’ tops are either
very low cut (Dylan wears one she
almost falls out of) or wide cut (or both).
Itsy-bitsy bikinis are standard beachwear for
the angels and extras. In an effort to steal a
bad guy’s identification badge, the barely
clothed trio take to the stage as dominatrices
in an S&M club. Along with other "Pussycat
Dolls," the angels whip, spank, gyrate, lap
dance and pole dance their way to his ID.
When a whip "accidentally" removes Natalie’s
top, she smiles as patrons cheer (she covers
her breasts with her arms). Picking up where
Charlie’s Angels left off, viewers find
out in Full Throttle that Natalie and Pete
are now living together. Discussing this
relationship, one angel quips, "It’s great isn’t
it?" Several other lines also paint living
together as a noble and necessary first step in
any serious relationship.
Speaking of surfing, but loaded with
innuendo, Natalie explains to a befuddled guy
that she enjoys it "hard and rough." Alex and
Natalie stop Dylan in her tracks by each
grabbing one of her breasts (she’s wearing
motorcycle protective gear). Thin Man has a
fetish for locks of women’s hair. When Alex
finally levels with her dad about her career, he
interprets her words as an admission to being
a bisexual call girl, specializing in group
orgies. But rather than express anger—or
even disappointment—he responds with,
"Whatever makes you happy!" In a later scene,
explaining how the trio defeated Madison, Alex
states, "Another satisfied customer—it was a
woman this time." Her father replies, "Well
done!" Walking through a bar, Dylan lets a
man slap her posterior (the first time) without
even so much as a disdainful look—leaving
the impression that it’s okay to let this type of
behavior slide at times. The second time he
does it, however, she throws him headlong
into a jukebox. All three angels break out of a
sculpture in the nude (they’re seen crouching
in low light). In a fight, Madison kisses a
pinned-down Natalie on the cheek several
times.
•
violent content: When it’s not about
skin, Full Throttle is about fists. Kick
boxing. Punching. Karate chopping. Plus
sword fights, gun battles and bombs. Bodies,
bullets, motorcycles, cars and helicopters fly,
flip, twist, explode and crash. Occasionally, the
action is slow-mo, Matrix style. To its
credit, for as much time as is spent in combat,
the body count and gore quotient is relatively
low. But scenes of a Federal witness being
smothered to death, a bad guy getting his face
slammed into a metal cage, a man getting
clubbed, a villain being run through with a
sword and a man being shot at close range
(bullet holes seen) aren’t exactly pretty,
either. While continuing to sexualize his
actresses, producer Leonard Goldberg
wanted them tougher and rougher this time
around. He explains: "When the first film was
released, audiences were enthralled by
seeing three female movie stars in these
huge action sequences. Since that time,
several movies have imitated that. So [director]
McG and I talked about elevating the action to
a higher level. In this film the angels aren’t just
flying across the room doing triple kicks.
There are also some good old-fashioned
punch-outs."
•
crude or profane language:
Compared to other action flicks, language is
subdued. Still, there are some strong
profanities (the Lord’s name is combined with
"d--n," followed quickly with a "What the fff-!"
and "bulls---"). Women—not just villainous
ones—are occasionally referred to as
"b--ches." Dialogue fishes for laughs by
repeatedly playing off Dylan’s former name
(Helen Zass). More than a dozen milder
profanities are added.
•
drug and alcohol content: The film
opens in a Mongolian bar. Dylan slams down
what appears to be one too many (then
appears sober in a subsequent fight scene). A
policeman, Thin Man and patrons at the
Mongolian bar are also shown smoking—with
one person deep inhaling to suggest
something other than tobacco. In the
strip club (where alcohol flows freely), Diaz
performs inside a giant martini glass. (Movie
production notes say the scene is a "homage
to and inspired by Playboy beauty Dita
Von Teese’s risqué and renowned burlesque
act.")
•
other negative elements: Disguised
as males, two of the angels frequent a men’s
bathroom. In a later scene, dressed as a
female, Natalie visits a men’s room.
Underneath a closed stall door, her
underwear is pulled down to her ankles. What
follows is a shot of her on the toilet (played for
laughs as she’s trying to keep from being
discovered). Shown in flashback, Natalie
reaches inside a cow to extract a newborn
calf, winding up slimed. Dylan is a metalhead
who wears AC/DC and Judas Priest T-shirts.
Background music includes tunes by Snoop
Dogg and Prodigy. Although telling the truth
would make more sense, Alex at first lies to
her father about her job.
• conclusion: The
original Charlie’s
Angels movie might not have meant
to spark young women’s interest in
karate lessons. But it did (as much as 50
percent nationwide). And perhaps,
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle doesn’t
mean to glamorize S&M clubs,
lap dancing, cohabitation, crude talk and
"good old-fashioned punch-outs," but
it does. Full Throttle is socially
irresponsible, insulting, soft-core
porn. Sitting through it borders on self-abuse.
Charlie’s angels offer nothing
for the audience to root for—and
demonstrate over and over again that they’re
anything but angelic.
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