Continuing the trend of old-tv-shows-made-into-big-budget-movies (Shaft, Mission: Impossible, Wild Wild West, The Mod Squad), this also continues my trend of watching movies which are based on television shows that I didn't watch. To be sure, I've probably seen a few episodes of Charlie's Angels. But at the time I was too young to appreciate the natural appeal of the show and now it's too old a program for me to watch. So I won't compare the movie to the tv show.

Charlie's Angels has the same basic concept as the television show, or at least I think it does. The mysterious Charlie, a former officer who served in Vietnam in the Army Intelligence branch, has put together a detective agency. Bosley (Bill Murray) is the head manager, handling the day to day operations and doing a bit of field work. He's also the only person who can contact Charlie, who always communicates via phone and is never seen. The three Angels come from varied backgrounds, hired by Charlie and trained for their job.

There's Natalie (Cameron Diaz), a geeky/nerdy braniac (and somehow Cameron pulls it off quite well) who is a bit of a social klutz and one heck of a dancer (you'll have to see the movie :-). Dylan (Drew Barrymore) is the bad one who grew up without parents but with an attitude to make up for it. Alex (Lucy Liu) is a martial arts expert who makes lethal muffins and has a problem hiding her secret identity from her boyfriend (Matt LeBlanc playing the lead actor in some sort of action movie).

Someone said that this movie is over the top, and it's true. Unlike Shaft or MI:2, Charlie's Angels doesn't try to be serious but is instead campy and fun, much like the tv show I guess. Lots of scenes where the girls dress down, lots of sexual innuendo, lots of action. And the action scenes are well done, with the sort of martial arts scenes reminiscent of MI:2 (lots of action that stops for a second, camera movements, really impossible-to-do-in-real-life stunts). The girls never use guns, the closest being a compound bow, but it doesn't detract from the movie at all as the fighting is fast and furious.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but until you realize what's going on it'll seem like everything is rushed. Still, by the end of the movie you'll know that it all makes sense in the end. To go along with the main plot there are subplots where each Angel tries to have a normal relationship. Natalie has some bartender, Dylan has "The Chad", and Alex has her actor. Even Bosley gets some action.

You'll never confuse this movie with one of the classics, but I thoroughly enjoyed the film and at the end I wanted more. (Not as in there was something missing, as in I can't wait for the sequel.) In this kind of movie it's hard to pick out whether the acting is good or not, as the action takes time that could be used for character development. The only person who stood out was Cameron Diaz, in a role that's totally different than anything else I've seen her in.

I'm not much of a fan of any of the three actresses in the movie. But they fit their roles and did them well. Watch this movie. It's funny, it has great action scenes, it's sexy and naughty, and it keeps you entertained from the start to the end. It's hard to imagine a better movie that won't be up for an Academy Award in any major category.