Grade: B+

Verdict: A high-flying hoot.

Details: Starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu. Rated PG-13. One hour, 32 minutes.

Rate it: Write your own review

Review: Moments before a mysterious but very recognizable man in a dashiki tosses a would-be terrorist out the hatch of an airborne jet, we glimpse the plane's in-flight entertainment: "T.J. Hooker: The Movie."

With that knowing wink, "Charlie's Angels" reveals an impudent self-awareness that keeps it light as helium. The movie seems to say, Look, we all know the last thing this world needs is another big-screen remake of a cheesy TV show. But why not sit back, have a good laugh and - hey, look out behind you! He's got a gun!

Pow! Slam! Guffaw!

Devoting itself equally to over-the-top action and self-mocking silliness, "Angels" keeps you wired and giggly from the first frames through the outtakes and blunders played over the closing credits. It's a simultaneous parody and celebration of the less-than-classic '70s TV series. And it's the funniest pop-culture romp since Austin Powers first pranced down Carnaby Street.

Actually, "Angels" owes an even bigger debt to Hong Kong action films, especially the lighter-hearted ones of Jackie Chan. (Chan also screens his mistakes over his closing credits). The big difference here is that the stars don't do their own stunts. While Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu show off plenty of kung fu moves, the fight scenes are digitally enhanced (à la "The Matrix").

Well, you don't go to "Charlie's Angels" for authenticity. You go to have a blast, and the movie delivers. Forget Sabrina, Jill and Kelly. The new angels are the slightly wild Dylan (Barrymore), who's dating an insecure tugboat pilot (Tom Green); the dance-loving but klutzy Natalie (Diaz), who hooks up with a sweet-natured bartender (Luke Wilson); and Alex (Liu), who's keeping her crime-fighting career a secret from her actor boyfriend (Matt LeBlanc).

For once, it's the guys who are window dressing. They're shoved to the sidelines as the girls, employed by the elusive Charlie (voiced again by John Forsythe) and overseen by Bosley (Bill Murray), take on a new case. A young telecommunications billionaire Knox (Sam Rockwell) has been kidnapped, presumably by his business rival Roger Corwin (Tim Curry).

The plot goes through a series of unsurprising "surprise" reversals and double-crosses. But it's all just an excuse to showcase its three leads in comic situations and action scenes. The catch-all script finds ways to dress its stars as geishas, belly-dancers, speedway pit workers and a Bavarian polka trio. Murray isn't exempt, turning up at one point in a padded sumo-wrestler costume.

In his feature-directing debut, McG (known on his birth certificate as Joseph McGinty Mitchell) makes the most of his cast's cheesecake quotient (lots of very tight clothes), using their sexiness as both lure and secret weapon. In one memorable bit, a tied-up Barrymore stalls a gang of approaching thugs by spreading her legs in a pose that's somewhere between kung fu and come-on.

Loud, fast, over-the-top and gleefully preposterous, "Charlie's Angels" has the energy of the 007 and "Mission: Impossible" movies with none of their pretensions. It gently mocks the conventions of action flicks (like the inevitable high-security break-in scene) while benefitting from their adrenaline highs. When the Angels dangle from a flying helicopter, you can see the blue-screen effect; but the movie has built so much goodwill at this point, you feel affection even for its cheesier spots.

Diaz is the movie's standout, playing a gorgeous geek. Seeming to relish any chance to look ridiculous, she delivers one comic highlight, showing off her awful dance moves on the set of "Soul Train."

Vacuum-packed into a black leather dress, Liu recycles her dominatrix "Payback" role but adds a layer of witty sendup. When she lectures a roomful of computer engineers, you not only believe she could inflame the crowd with lust, but could probably take over the company just by crossing her legs.

And even though she's the movie's producer (and certain to get very, very rich from her pet project), Barrymore isn't above taking a humiliatingly funny, nude pratfall down a steep Hollywood slope.

The supporting cast is strong, including Kelly Lynch as the kidnapped industrialist's business partner, and professional weirdo Crispin Glover, cast against type as a black-belt thug.

Despite dark reports of a ballooning budget, countless script rewrites and the occasional on-set tiff, "Charlie's Angels" turns out to be a terrific popcorn movie. You probably won't remember much about it the next day, but it's irresistible when you're watching. Everyone onscreen seems to be in on the joke, and having a great time. So will you.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service