Rating: B
Dir: McG
Star: Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, Bill Murray
Despite a production which might politely be described as “troubled”, the end result is a good deal better than you might fear, with the attitude pitched just right, and enough self-awareness to keep things ticking over nicely. The characters are largely unrealised, only Cameron Diaz going beyond the paint-by-numbers stage to become a genuine person. Yet from here spin off more than enough pleasant distractions, and the volume of fetishistic moments – Barrymore licking steering-wheels, Liu straddling a guided missile, Diaz unzipping like Ursula Andress in Dr.No – help gloss over such trivia as a storyline every bit as dumb as you remember.
You have to say, there are some fabulous chunks, mostly when the film (and the actresses) are in motion. Especial highlights include Barrymore’s demolition of the opposition while tied to a chair, not to mention a great alley-brawl between our heroic trio (not to be confused with The Heroic Trio, naturally) and Crispin Glover’s hair-smelling villain, while The Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up pumps out in the background. And like all great pop-video cinema, if you don’t like this millisecond, there’ll be another one along very shortly.