It was released in the United States on June 27, 2003, by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label and was number one at the box office for that weekend, also making a worldwide total of $259.2million.[3] Like its predecessor, the film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of Diaz, Barrymore and Liu, but criticism aimed at the "bland plot and lack of sense".
Plot
After rescuing U.S. Marshal Ray Carter in Mongolia, the Angels (Natalie Cook, Dylan Sanders, and Alex Munday) and Jimmy Bosley (John Bosley's adoptive brother) are sent to recover titanium rings stolen from the United States Department of Justice that can display the people listed in the witness protection program. DOJ official William Rose Bailey and a protected witness, Alan Caulfield are among those killed.
At Caulfield's house in San Bernardino, the Angels track his assassin Randy Emmers to a beach where they meet former Angel Madison Lee. During the Coal Bowl motorcycle race, Emmers targets another witness named Max Petroni, and the Angels try to intervene.
Emmers is killed by the Thin Man (believed to be dead after the events of the first film) because he was protecting Max. Inside Emmers' pocket, the Angels discover the photos of Caulfield, Max, and, surprisingly, Dylan, under her birth name, Helen Zaas.
Dylan reveals that she is a protected witness after sending her former boyfriend, Irish mob leader Seamus O'Grady to prison. He has since targeted those who wronged him; including Dylan and Max, whose parents O'Grady killed. As Max previously testified against O'Grady, he is sent to the home of Bosley's mother for protection.
At a monastery, the Angels learn about the Thin Man's past from the Mother Superior, who reveals his name, Anthony. Afterwards, the Angels track O'Grady's mob at San Pedro and manage to get the rings, but O'Grady threatens Dylan with the murder of everyone she loves.
Natalie attends her boyfriend, Pete Kominsky's high school reunion at Hermosa Beach. There, she overhears his friends implying he might propose, which she feels is too fast since they just moved in together. Alex returns home to her actor boyfriend, Jason while Dylan leaves the Angels and heads to Mexico.
When Natalie, Bosley, and Alex read the letter she left for them, they realize that Dylan fled to protect them. Natalie asks Charlie how O'Grady got out of jail, and Charlie reveals someone had him released on good behaviour. While hiding out in Mexico, Dylan is convinced to return after seeing an apparition of former Angel Kelly Garrett.
Natalie and Alex deduce that Carter is the one who let O'Grady out of prison after seeing him return Bosley's keys without any pain, despite claiming to have broken his ribs recently. Following him, the two witness him getting killed by Madison, the true mastermind.
Though Dylan arrives to back the group, the Angels are shot by Madison, who takes the rings, though they survived via Kevlar vests. Back at the base, Charlie reprimands Madison for what she's done and confronts her for endangering her former teammates' lives. Madison is angry she never got the recognition she deserved from Charlie and shoots his speaker.
The Angels realize that Madison is going to sell the rings to the O'Grady Crime Family, the Antonioni Mafia, the Tanaka Yakuza, and the Diablo Cartel at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where Jason's film premiere is about to commence. The Angels arrange for the buyers to be arrested by the FBI while they confront Madison and O'Grady on a different rooftop.
The O'Grady's enter the melee, having avoided arrest when Seamus realizes the Angels' plan. The Thin Man comes to the Angels' aid, helping Alex and rescuing Dylan when she is being attacked by O'Grady. He begins to fight O'Grady and kicks him off the roof. The Thin Man grabs Dylan and chokes her at first, but they end up sharing a kiss and he pulls some of Dylan's hair out.
Just as Thin Man is about to say something, O'Grady stabs him and he falls off the roof. O'Grady nearly succeeds in killing Dylan as well, but she blinds him, causing him to lose his footing and fall to his death (in the unrated cut, O'Grady is still alive and attempts to get back up but is stopped by The Thin Man, who also survived; Dylan accidentally knocks over the "E" sign and it falls on O'Grady, possibly The Thin Man as well). The Angels fight Madison all the way to an abandoned theatre, where they kick her into a chamber filled with gas and she fires her gun, inadvertently blowing herself up.
The Angels attend the premiere, where they learn that Mama Bosley is adopting Max. Peter surprises Natalie by asking her to get a puppy (the big question he was planning on asking her) and Alex terminates her "time out" with Jason. The Angels celebrate their victory together with Bosley.
Bill Murray, who played John Bosley in the first installment, also appears in archival footage.
Production
Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures, an animated prequel series explains how the Angels got there and their mission, concluded by the very introduction of the film.[5]
The scene where the Angels go to investigate the body of Agent Caufield dressed as crime-scene professionals is a homage/parody of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, complete with the theme "Who Are You" by The Who.
The song "Feel Good Time" is the film's main track, and is performed by Pink.
The Thin Man character perhaps pays homage to the Thin Man in the 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. In the film, Thin Man is ordered by Joh Frederson, master of Metropolis, to spy on his son Freder.
Reception
Box office
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle collected $37.6 million during its opening weekend.[7] The film had a production budget of $120million. It grossed $100,830,111 at the United States box office and had to depend on earnings from the international box office to make a profit. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $259,175,788 worldwide, underperforming its predecessor by $5 million.[2]
Critical response
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle received mixed reviews and earned a rating of 41% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Eye candy for those who don't require a movie to have a plot or for it to make sense".[8] On Metacritic the film has weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on reviews from 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[10]
Roger Ebert gave the film 2+1⁄2 stars out of 4,[11] a higher score than the half star he gave to the first film.[12] Ebert explained: "I realized I did not hate or despise the movie, and [...] I decided that I sort of liked it because of the high spirits of the women involved".[11]
Amy Dawes of Variety magazine wrote: "Bigger, sleeker and better than the first, sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a joyride of a movie that takes the winning elements of the year 2000 hit to the next level".[13]
The film received seven nominations at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actress for both Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content), winning two trophies for Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Supporting Actress for Demi Moore.[14] The film also received seven nominations at the 2003 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Director (McG), Worst Actress (Barrymore), Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More Than $100 Million Worldwide Using Hollywood Math, Most Intrusive Musical Score, Worst Sequel, Least "Special" Special Effects, and Worst On-Screen Group (the Angels). It won for Worst Director and Most Intrusive Musical Score.[15]
Following the release of Full Throttle, the franchise was confirmed for a third and fourth film, but in 2004 the idea was canceled. A fictional sequel titled Charlie's Angels III: The Legend of Charlie's Gold (2007) was presented in the 2001 Futurama episode "I Dated a Robot", with Lucy Liu reprising her role; the film follows the Angels dealing with an outbreak of vampires.[citation needed]
In 2015, Sony began developing the new Charlie's Angels installment. Elizabeth Banks directed and produced the film with her husband Max Handelman producing.[25][26] Initially developed as a reboot of the franchise, the film is a continuation of the original TV series and the McG-directed 2000s films.[27]
