Charlie's Angels is the sort of brainless popcorn entertainment that can serve as a flaky-yet-pleasurable break from the ultra-serious movies that Hollywood usually has in store for moviegoers.
In this thinly scripted tale of good versus evil, three attractive women (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as Natalie, Dylan and Alex respectively), one loveable middleman (Bill Murray as Bosley) and an unknown Vietnam veteran, who has since made millions, called "Charlie" (yep, a Vietnam vet named Charlie) shape the good guys. However, only in the latter half of the film are these good-guy/bad-guy lines drawn. The dynamic team is out to foil a scheme that could lead to the end of worldwide privacy, leading them to fight for their survival as a series of betrayals that even Benedict Arnold could not hatch unfolds as if such a marvellous idea was not adequate.
Writers Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon and John August have chosen to handicap the cast of actors by making them protect themselves with nothing, but some Martial Arts moves against all kinds of nasty-looking weapons that could easily be mistaken with the precious piece of artwork. The lack of genuinely realistic action mars the film from its self-satirical nature as the action was presumably supposed to be the one possible aspect of the fantastic super-hero parody. However, the spoof works beautifully when performed correctly, which is the majority of the time.
Director McG (I will reserve to comment on his name) knows the nature of self-parody, ranging from an early "Baywatch" joke to plenty of cleavage gags to a slow-motion shot of Lucy Liu tossing her hair. He appreciates that while the TV show was laughed at more frequently than with it, his film can be laughed at but still receiving the same laughs.