by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 11, 2008   Last Updated: February 12, 2008

"Charlie's Angels" was fun. Released 24 years after the original series, it cashed in on the show's campy appeal while updating the characters for a more enlightened time.

Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu star as three private investigators - with Bill Murray playing "Bosley," their earnest manager. The film gives each angel a quick personal storyline, then shows each one receiving Charlie's message to come in for their next assignment. And soon they're hearing the details about the newest criminal conspiracy.

The film moves fast, with exciting music, sound effects, and a lot of tricky camera work. Director McQ previously worked on music videos, and he's included nearly a dozen classic rock songs in the film, including Heart's "Baracuda" and even "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors. At one point Cameron Diaz wins over the crowd at a taping of "Soul Train" by dancing to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back." The movie worked hard to keep every minute entertaining, lively, and fun.

The opening credits re-create the TV series' introduction about the past lives of the detectives, showing a fast new montage of their improbable skills. ("Now they work for me," says John Forsythe, the original voice-on-the-phone in the original 1976 show. "My name is Charlie.") The angels are also apparently masters of disguises. In the opening scene, a terrorist plans to detonate a crowded airplane, when he's suddenly tossed overboard by that mysterious figure with a moustache. They're both rescued by a well-placed motorboat after parachuting to the ocean below, and the terrorist realizes he's been thwarted by all three of Charlie's Angels (one disguise with a moustache).

The movie never lets its characters slow down, zigzagging from comedy to action with occasional flashes of romance. Lucy Liu also worries about her boyfriend's reaction to her secret double life as a private investigator. (Her boyfriend, a struggling actor, is played by Matt LeBlanc from "Friends.") Drew Barrymore fends off the advances of a loser named Chad (played by Tom Green). And Cameron Diaz is furious when one of the bad guys interrupts a phone call from her newest boyfriend.

There's martial arts fights and double crosses, with the plot ultimately rooted in a secret buried in Charlie's past. Tim Curry plays the suspected criminal mastermind, and Crispin Glover plays an even creepier henchman.

But the plot is just a framework for lots of music, comedy and action!

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