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Heaven Must Be Missin’ Angels
I promised a BIG week and we begin wrecking havoc now. Dr. Strangelove is back from prolonged hybernation with his take on the screenplay to Charlie's Angels 2. I read half of it and had to stop. I didn't want to completely spoil myself. The teaser trailer is kickass. McG is helming another winner. We'll follow up later in the week with two other script reviews for Summer 2002 release. No reviews from me just yet. I'm keeping myself fresh for the next 2 weeks. I'll give you my early two cents on About Schmidt, Chicago and Catch Me if You Can.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Script Review
Back in November of 2000, Hollywood released one hell of a popcorn movie, McG’s star studded re-vamp of the television show Charlie’s Angels. Now, two years later, I acquired John August’s revised draft (dated October 10th, 2001) of Charlie’s Angels: Halo (AKA Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle). Now, two years later, the same creative team is bringing audiences back with a second dose of Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Alex (Lucy Liu), and Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and while it doesn't really give audiences anything new, the formula still seems to be some what refreshing. Hopefully, this sequel will not suffer the same lack of creativity that this summer’s Men in Black II force fed un-willing audiences.
Screenwriter John August seems to place a flood of action pieces into his films. Ranging from the space battles of Titan A.E. to the first Charlie’s Angels, most of his films have featured more than your typical share of action sequences. However, August was at the top of his game with Go. While the film featured some suspenseful action, it was the Tarantino-esque dialogue and massive web of characters and subplots that took center stage. It seems that while Halo features its share of action sequences that August releases it from his system in the opening ten pages of an excessive and meaningless action sequence. The momentum of the scene has no relevance in the plot of the film, which revolves around the angels on a search for an FBI mole who is selling protected witness names to the highest bidder, but it serves as a great attention grabber when August later tones down the action with a assassination and puts his biting dialogue back up front. Take the example of Dylan’s retort to being told she’s out of her jurisdiction:
DYLAN
So if you want to pull out a ruler and measure who’s packing more inches, go right ahead. Because when this is over, we'll be catching a killer while you're still unzipping your fly.
Not only does August give his angels some sharp dialogue but he actually gives them some interesting characteristics. The angels are coping with the idea of losing Natalie to marriage and finding a replacement angel. This is later mirrored in an encounter between Dylan and Kelly Garrett, one of Charlie’s former angels. This is where the draft could be dated from the one currently being used in production. From the rumors being uttered, Demi Moore is taking the role of the former angel who fell from heaven. However, in this draft, there is no mention of such an angel or character. While it seems improbable that August would provide a drastic re-write to a draft dated a year ago while the film was in production. However, one cannot dismiss the fact that this is indeed possible and probable. Basic editing and re-shoots can alter a plot dramatically. For example, look at Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream and Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil. Both films contained minute changes which in turn altered the story line and the dramatic impact. It will be interesting to see what August and the creative team have done, if anything, to the script in the production stage.
Another end August ties up rather nicely is some continuity with the original film. While Bosley is not in this film, he is replaced by his nephew (Bernie Mac). Bill Murray’s character is given a reason for missing, Alex’s relationship with Jason (Matt LeBlanc) isn’t brushed over without considering past events, even Dylan’s relationship with Chad (Tom Green) and Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell) is not left to exist only in the plot of the first film. Even Crispin Glover’s infamous Thin Man returns, only to become an interesting and intricate part of the plot. They are all brought into the story’s context with fairly rational explanation and the angels seemed to have matured and learned from their previous adventures.
One complaint about Full Throttle is that is relies too much on action to propel the plot. Granted, this is the sequel to an action/adventure blockbuster, but that does not mean certain actions should be motivated by the value of eye candy rather than character’s emotions and motivations. Motivations spur everything in life. Shakespeare’s plays are laced with motives and twists that are all put into effect by character motivations. While one should not expect this from Full Throttle, it should be expected from John August, the screenwriter who brought audiences the marvelous GO. However, these sequences must be put into the context of the parameters set forth by not only the predecessor but the genre of action itself. With minor re-writes and some toning down of the excessive action sequences, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle not only has the ability and talent to live up to it’s inspiration but to surpass it."
(Review submitted by Dr. Strangelove.)
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Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
