Angels with pretty faces

Charlies Angels

Cert 15

Verdict 2/5

It was just a matter of time before those Hollywood execs thought of reworking the 70s TV series, Charlies Angels. There is a built-in selling point: three red-hot crime busting babes, flummoxing the boys, whipping the baddies into shape, and partaking in some seriously pumped-up action set-pieces.

The only problem: the search for a storyline. (The racing-car sequence is so shameless its literally just thrown-in to make sure theres a car chase in the movie.)

However, include plenty of slow-mo Matrix-style kung fu fighting (already old hat), make sure theres one of those Mission Impossible scenarios where the girls have to break into a high-tech high-security facility (so last summer), and start off with a seriously showy intro, on a plane with someone disguised in one of those ludicrously lifelike rubber-masks. What do you end up with? Well, pretty much what youd expect.

The girls naturally wiggle it and jiggle it a little bit, with all three getting a fair piece of the action; the most surprising thing being that they do actually seem to enjoy hanging-out together.

Drew Barrymore is bold-as-brass Dylan not quite the sex kitten of old who loves-em-and-leaves-em; Lucy Liu the self-styled dominatrix from Ally McBeal is domesticated Alex, who informs her lover shes a bikini- waxer; and Cameron Diaz is nerdy Natalie the underplaying real leader of the pack who loves to boogie and cant find herself a fella.

The great Bill Murray is their boss, Bosley. Hes seriously short on one-liners but still funny.

And John Forsythe reprises his unseen role as the sugar-daddy voice of Charlie, the incognito millionaire who gives out the orders and funds the exploits.

But a great deal has happened since the 70s. With plenty of respect now in the workplace, women really can be sexy on their own terms. So getting away with a movie like Charlies Angels these days is no problem at all.