While sloshing through this amateurish adaptation of the
1968-73 series, I wondered if the writer/director had made
it sloppy on purpose in order to humiliate the old show,
since he most certainly obliterated any chance for sequels:
He has Capt. Greer(Farina) killed off within the first half
hour, which throws all credibilty out the window. It's
amazing that so many moviemakers want to adapt old TV
programs when we've never asked them to. They also don't
try to make the characters very appealing: Take a look at
Danes, whose Julie Barnes has a very unattractive hairdo, a
far cry from Peggy Lipton's classic blonde surfer mane on
TV. She's barely even a threat to the thugs here. As Linc,
Epps looks bored. And as for Ribisi, he looks desperate. In
fact, it's hard to believe that they could get into
anyplace other than a hockey arena or a Springsteen
concert. The attempt to mingle a seventies atmosphere with
a ninties doesen't work either. And whatever made them
think that the word "mod" had to be explained in the
opening? Most youngsters today know what the word means,
even if it's rarely used today. Overall, it's a pretty
dreck affair and not worth the bother. However, in defense
of the TV series, I'd like to say that there were and are
plenty of people who enjoyed it both then and even today,
and just because it's style is mostly dated doesn't mean
that people like Vice have to be so unkind to it. I have a
sad feeling that the soon to be released movie based on
Charlie's Angels will also turn out to be just as lousy as
this film, which is why everybody is advised to skip that
and just stick to the old 1976-81 show. And though Kate
Jackson herself may look a tad older than she was back
then, the other Angels, ecspecially Jaclyn Smith, will
always look stunning, and the adventures there will always
be a lot more entertaining.