Fun rules over absurdity in `Angels’

In Theaters

CHARLIE’S ANGELS Directed by McG. Written by Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon and John August. 92 minutes. PG-13.

Take all the saucy, slow-motion bounce of a Clairol hair commercial, cross it with the pumped-up cleavage of a Victoria’s Secret runway show and then jack the action with the kick-butt moves of “The Matrix” (or any film by Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee) – and you essentially have “Charlie’s Angels,” a film that takes girl power to such dizzying heights and crazed extremes, teen-age boys might find themselves fainting in the aisles midway through.

The film offers nothing – and everything. It’s slim, but it’s phat. Just as in John Woo’s “Mission: Impossible 2,” it backs its ridiculous plot with the joy of its way-over-the-top action, its hugely likable cast, and its dozens of references to famous scenes in other movies, especially “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest,” “Stalag 17,” “The Matrix,” and the Austin Powers and James Bond series.

This is escapism tossed into the spotlight, a film so undeniably weightless and slight, it could melt in your hand. But what a lot of fun. What makes “Charlie’s Angels” work is that it strikes just the right absurdist tone in capturing one of the more ludicrous television shows of the mid-1970s and early 1980s.

The film, as directed by McG (yes, folks, that’s his name) from a script by 17 writers (only three of whom were credited), is a postmodern parody of pop culture. That makes it sound deeper than it is, but since “Charlie’s Angels” is essentially extremism for the sake of extremism, it’s nevertheless the case.

The film plays with what action movies have become – overblown battles of superstar egos and directorial one-upmanship. But in all its feathery fun, it goes several steps further. It manages to lampoon the television show on which it’s based, while also lampooning the feminist movement.

The women in “Charlie’s Angels” – nicely played by Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu -have a 21st century sensibility. They don’t behave as if they have something to prove. Instead, they’re a result of the generation that did most of the proving. They love their clothes, their makeup, their hair and their men every bit as much as they love delivering a drop-kick to a jaw or a sucker punch to someone’s throat. I’m not sure whether Gloria Steinem would approve, but I’m certain Camille Paglia would.

With Bill Murray as Bosley, Sam Rockwell as a kidnapped software mogul, Tim Curry as an evil millionaire and John Forsythe as the voice of Charlie, “Charlie’s Angels” probably didn’t intend to be a study in pop culture’s influence on post-feminism. But when a leather-clad Drew Barrymore – tied with her hands behind a chair – lifts and spreads her legs in a V to stop the group of men determined to kill her character, that’s exactly what this film suggests – especially when Barrymore leaps to her feet and tackles them all in spite of her perceived limitations.

Grade: B+

On Video

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 Directed by John Woo. Written by Robert Towne. 120 minutes. Rated PG-13.

In John Woo’s highly stylized and often gripping “Mission: Impossible 2,” Tom Cruise returns in cruise control as Ethan Hunt. The film is great fun, a blockbuster that seamlessly blends action, humor, sex and glamour into a mix that’s so intoxicating, it proves sequels can indeed be better.

After the first “Mission: Impossible,” which featured a plot so dense and muddled not even IBM’s Big Blue could make sense of it, Woo wisely weaves his plot around a less convoluted premise- one that buys straight into AIDS conspiracy theories: A deadly, man-made virus is about to be released on the world so a group of evil, alpha-males can earn tens of billions on its man-made cure.

As Ethan, Cruise’s mission – should he choose to accept it – is to join forces with the unsuspecting Nyah Hall (Thandie Newton), an international jewel thief and former lover of the nutcase controlling the virus – Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott).

Recalling Hitchcock’s 1946 film, “Notorious,” in which Ingrid Bergman’s character risked her life to marry a villain so she could help her true love (Cary Grant), Nyah re-establishes her relationship with Sean, moves in with him and gets the goods on the virus for Ethan. Predictably, she and Ethan also fall in love.

Always assured, “M:I2” is loud and showy when it needs to be, but it’s also restrained in ways that Woo’s “Face/Off” and “Broken Arrow” never were. This is the rare action film that holds its audience in its clutch even when bombs and bullets aren’t tearing up the scenery.

Influenced throughout by a myriad of classic thrillers, such as “To Catch a Thief” and “North by Northwest,” “M:I2” relies too often on the oldest espionage trick in the book – peeling away a mask to reveal (surprise!) another person. But it more than compensates in the execution of its executions. With Woo’s sweeping signature style in full, dazzling effect, and Cruise committed to the role, this is one mission that promises not to detonate in video stores.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene.