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"Angels are like diamonds. They can't be made, you have to find them. Each one is unique."

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is the sequel to the film adaptation of Charlie's Angels. It was directed by McG.

The Angels—Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu) are back again but this time they're preparing for a strike without even warning as they go undercover to retrieve two missing silver bands. These are no ordinary rings. They contain valuable encrypted information that reveal the new identities of every person in the Federal Witness Protection Program. When witnesses start turning up dead, only the Angels, using their expertise as masters of disguise, espionage and martial arts can stop the perpetrator, a mysterious "fallen" Angel (Demi Moore).


Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle contains examples of:

  • Academic Athlete: Flashbacks reveal Alex was both a champion gymnast and a chess player in her youth.
  • Actor Allusion:
  • Adrenaline Time: Used a lot during action scenes, with lots of slow-mo jumps and flips. Most notable during The Reveal that Madison is the Big Bad, with her dramatically jumping down from the ceiling in slow motion, to it speeding up as the hits the floor and does a Hair Flip.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: The Thin Man because of his Heel–Face Turn.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Angels deduce that Randy is a villain because Dylan immediately starts lusting after him, and it is later revealed that, in her past, she was in a relationship with Seamus O'Grady.
  • Ascended Extra: Natalie's Love Interest Pete gets a bigger role here.
  • Ass Kicking Pose: The film is the Trope Namer, as the Angels commonly struck in combat poses in choreographic unison before a fight. The Big Bad derisively calls it "The Angels ass-kicking pose" when she sees it.
  • Bad Habits: The angels disguise themselves as nuns at one point, to find information about the Creepy Thin Man
  • Badass Biker: Natalie, Thin Man, Max, Randy Emmers, and the Coal Bowl MC (P!nk's cameo character).
  • Barehanded Blade Block: Seamus catches the Thin Man's sword this way, who responds by kicking him off the rooftop.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: In the final fight with Madison, the Angels got serious injuries that in real life might need medical treatments, particularly when they get thrown from a speeding car. Nevertheless, after defeating Madison, the Angels could attend Alex's boyfriend, Jason's, movie premiere looking pristine and fine.
  • Between My Legs: This shot is used during the first confrontation between the Angels and Madison.
  • Big Bad: Madison Lee, the "fallen angel". She planned to steal the list of people currently in the Witness Protection program and sell it to the highest bidder among several criminal groups, while also hoping to kill the Angels, Bosley and Charlie.
  • Bling-Bling-BANG!: No, it isn't enough for Madison to have a gun (the Angels don't use guns anymore in general in this film). No, a Desert Eagle isn't sufficient either. Nor are two of them. No, they have to be gold-plated.
  • Bond One-Liner: After the Big Bad, former Angel Madison Lee, got engulfed by a sea of flames:
    Alex: She is so fired.
  • Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Teenage Natalie had outside-the-face braces. Even after the flashback, which showed that despite this she grew up to be a super-hottie, she still had the klutzy geekiness and was an unpopular girl at heart.
  • Broken Pedestal: The Angels, especially Natalie, are huge fans of former Angel Madison Lee. Not so much after she's revealed to be the villain.
  • Bulletproof Vest: The Angels use them to stop rounds fired from the Big Bad's twin Desert Eagles, dusting themselves off and keeping it moving like nothing happened. In reality, the vests would provide very little if any protection against such high-caliber rounds. One could easily still die, and at the very least would be incapacitated with severe internal injuries and broken bones.
  • Call-Back:
    • Natalie's love of tickets and ability to spontaneously cause a room to dance return.
    • In the Uncut version, there's an extended fight scene at the Irish dock where Dylan tries to buy time during the fight against Seamus by spreading her legs and saying "wait! wait! wait!", the same way she did with Knox's mooks when she was tied to a chair and (originally) needed to buy time so she could escape her bonds. Unlike the mooks, who did pause to listen to her, Seamus just immediately punches her.
  • The Cameo: Rapper Eve and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen make cameo appearances (presumably as themselves) in Dylan's imagination (in which she imagines a future with an ever-changing Angel line-up). Other celebrities, playing different characters, also pop up for cameo appearances, such as P!nk and Carey Hart to name a few.
  • Casting Gag: Carrie Fisher plays a nun, which she also did in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Played straight when Bosley points out the girls' custom-made Kevlar vests that later save them when they get shot by Madison.
  • Circus Brat: The Thin Man is revealed (in a detailed flashback) to have been the child of Romanian circus performers who died in a fire.
  • Combat Pragmatist: The Angels and Madison Lee display moments of this trope. For Madison, she is quick to go for her guns the first chance she gets, shooting the Angels in her first fight with them. However, in the first encounter, the Angels are savvy enough to wear kevlar under their clothes and in the second encounter they use a pair of whips to disarm Madison. In the climactic battle, Madison kicks a piece of the stage at Natalie and holds her at gunpoint. She pretty much has her dead to rights until the other two Angels come to Natalie's rescue.
  • Continuity Nod: Kelly Garrett from the original series appears, still being played by Jaclyn Smith.
  • Creepy Good: The Thin Man is still clearly all kinds of creepy, but it turns out this time he is actually a good guy, attempting to save the life of a child under the Witness Protection Program.
  • Cut Apart: There are scenes of some mafia groups making their way to the rooftop of a certain hotel. Then there's a scene of former Angel Madison Lee getting ready to meet them. As the groups gathered at the rooftop, faces to the door, Madison makes her way to a door, ready to meet them. Then... the door the groups were waiting at opens... to reveal a police inspector who puts them under arrest, then snipers from the surrounding buildings show up and the groups are taken in. Madison meanwhile, opens the door and sees nobody. The gangs had met at the rooftop of the wrong hotel, set up by the Angels.
  • Dark Action Girl: The "fallen angel" who's even better at fighting than the other Angels being able to fight all three at once.
  • Darker and Edgier: Although it's largely the same brand of comedy down to a lot of near-identical gags as the first film, it's not as purely comedic as Dylan's backstory is fleshed out and partly Played for Drama, the fights are more brutal, the angels get in much more precarious situations, and even the villains (especially if you include The Thin Man) are more rounded. The story also raises the question of whether life changes will cause the trio will disband, which does briefly happen. They even manage to cram in some undertones of domestic violence (explored through Dylan and Seamus' dynamic).
  • Dead Star Walking: Bruce Willis shows up just long enough to get shot in the head.
  • Death by Cameo: Bruce Willis appears as a government agent protecting one of two rings that forms a top-secret government list. As he gets on his private jet, he is almost immediately held up by a masked assailant who takes the ring from him, and then shoots him point-blank in the head (off-screen). We later find out that his assailant is an ex-Angel played by Demi Moore, who is Willis' ex-wife. Subtle revenge, perhaps?.
  • Dies Wide Open: Subverted: The film depicts The Angels being shot or in big crashes, falling motionless with their eyes wide open... and then they blink and wake up; they were only unconscious.
  • Disney Villain Death:
    • Both Seamus and The Thin Man die by falling off a building.
    • The Big Bad falls into a fire (which she started herself thanks to her falling through the floor and firing her guns up at the Angels while in the midst of a lot of escaping gas). If you listen closely, you can hear her scream even after she's hit the bottom.
  • Doesn't Like Guns: The Angels' habit of doing this is given a continuity nod when the Big Bad chuckles at their ass-kicking pose and remarks that back in her day, Angels used guns. Cue Dual Wielding golden Desert Eagles.
  • Dramatic Shattering: When Dylan encounters Seamus again for the first time in years, she drops the champagne bottle she's holding in shock and fear, causing it to shatter to pieces.
  • Embarrassing Last Name: It is revealed that Dylan Sanders used to be named Helen Zass (just say it out loud...), but had to change it after being placed in the Witness Protection Program.
  • Everyone Knows Morse: The Angel are surrounded by Seamus and an army of gun-toting Mooks, but Alex is able to Kill the Lights, forcing blind fire while the women slip (or, rather, front-flip) behind them. While the Mooks scramble for the lights, the trio silently communicates via tapping Morse into each other's palms before the lights come back on.
  • Evil Wears Black: Just like in the previous film, the Big Bad starts wearing dark clothing after The Reveal.
  • Face–Heel Turn: Madison Lee prior to the events of Full Throttle
  • Fallen Hero: The Big Bad is Madison Lee, a former Angel who decided to become a criminal after a failed mission in which she nearly lost her life.
  • Family-Friendly Stripper: The Angels go undercover at a sleazy strip club filled with criminals. Instead of strippers, we get a Pussycat Dolls dance number and the only nudity comes from Natalie accidentally getting her top ripped off by Alex's whip (and she still preserves her modesty via Godiva Hair and Hand-or-Object Underwear).
  • Fatal Attractor: Alex lampshades Dylan's tendency to get attracted to villains by jokingly confirming Randy is an assassin when Dylan starts checking him out.
    Alex: Check it out. Brown shorts, red board, 11 o'clock. What do you think?
    Dylan: Yummy!
    Alex: That's what I thought. Case closed. Nat, move in. Dylan thinks he's hot.
    Dylan: What do you mean?
    Alex: You always fall for the bad guy.
  • Firing One-Handed: Madison's only fires her Desert Eagles two-handed. And yes, this does require the Rule of Cool to keep those Hand Cannons from spraining people's wrists or knocking out their teeth like they would do in Real Life.
  • Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: When Dylan briefly quit as an Angel, she goes to a cafe in Mexico. As she enters, a man spanks her ass. The first time, she doesn't respond, but the second time when she intends to go back as an Angel, she responds by throwing him until he hits the arcade game.
  • Groin Attack: In the opening, Alex gives one for one of the Mongolians upon rescuing Agent Carter.
  • Guns Akimbo:
  • Happily Adopted: A brief Hand Wave explains that the first film's Bosley (Bill Murray) was adopted many years ago by the mother of the new Bosley (Bernie Mac).
  • Hate Sink: Seamus O'Grady is an Irish mobster who dated and was put away by Dylan who ended up in Witness Protection because of it. Released early from prison, he taunts and fights Dylan and threatens to kill her friends Natalie and Alex just to hurt her even more. During the climax, O'Grady kills the Thin Man by stabbing him In the Back with his own blade.
  • Heel–Face Turn: The Thin Man turns out unexpectedly on the Angel's side this time around.
  • Hero's Evil Predecessor: Madison was a former Angel to Charlie. In the movie, she turns evil and tries to expose Charlie and kill the current Angels. And unlike this incarnation of the Angels, she uses guns.
  • Hollywood Fire: Implacable Man Seamus O'Grady survives a roaring inferno, walking out of the fire like he's a Terminator. There is no In-Universe explanation for this.
  • In the Back:
    • Dylan attempts to kick Madison in the back while she's talking to Alex and Natalie, only for Madison to casually catch it without even turning around.
    • Seamus impales the Thin Man from behind with his own sword.
  • The Irish Mob: Dylan's ex-with-a-vengeance and the Big Bad's The Dragon, Seamus, is an Irish mobster.
  • Made of Explodium: Every bike that gets shot or falls over in the dirt bike race scene.
  • Made of Iron: The Angels are often get hit, kicked, thrown and land on a hard surface or objects with a hard thud, but they always manage to get up and fight again 'till their last breathe.
    • Seamus walks out of an inferno unarmed and Madison is thrown from a car moving 40 or 50mph and not only survives but continues to fight.
  • Mythology Gag: A few. Most notably, Kelly Garrett appears as a past Angel.
  • Never Gets Drunk: The film opens with Dylan drinking a Cossack under the table, then soberly executing her part of a plan to rescue a hostage.
  • Naked on Arrival: The Angels bursting out of an angelic statue in the buff with strategically placed lighting. The sequence then cuts to them having made a clothing change in the meantime.
  • One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Alex's boyfriend starts complaining about Charlie, causing her distraught father to think that Charlie is some kind of pimp. It doesn't get any better when Alex takes over, her dialogue is full of Accidental Innuendo:
    Alex: I'm so sorry Daddy, that I didn't tell you. I didn't think you'd approve and I didn't wanna disappoint you. I know how you wanted me to be a neurosurgeon. But I've discovered a whole new way to help people... that makes me feel so... alive.
    Mr. Munday: Whatever makes you happy.
    Alex: I am so relieved! It's been killing me, you not knowing all these years. I- Daddy... Natalie, Dylan and I are a team. And we just took on 12 sailors. You can't even imagine the positions we get ourselves into. Daddy, I wish you could watch us work. You'd be so proud. I'm gonna take a shower because I am covered in- Well, you can only imagine what. And then when I get back, I am gonna give you... a full blow-by-blow.
  • Police Code for Everything: An illegal chinchilla ranch on the premises is an 11-350.
  • Product Placement: The film has a lot of cool cars, and the DVD even had a special featurette to showcase them all.
  • Redemption Equals Death: The Thin Man (although, given what he was able to survive in the first movie, there is a lot of speculation that he may actually still be alive).
  • Sarcastic Clapping: After revealing herself as the culprit behind the case the Angels are investigating and the Angels mention all of the evidences that point to her, Madison Lee gives a mocking applause before shooting the Angels. Thankfully, the Angels survive her shot as they wear kevlars for protection.
  • Satanic Archetype: The Big Bad backstory is clearly an allegory of the story of Satan. Fallen angel? Get it? Hence why she's often depicted against fiery backgrounds. When she dies, she's told to "Go to Hell" and gets kicked through a board on a stage and shoots an opened gas pipe as she falls, causing her to be engulfed in flames, with the scene making it look likes she's being Dragged Off to Hell.
  • Sequel Non-Entity: Bosley is conspicuously absent (save for a photo on his family's wall), having been replaced by his adoptive brother. Despite the fact that Bosley appeared to be beloved by the Angels in the first film, here they never seem to miss him for even a moment — nor is his absence (and current whereabouts) ever explained.
  • Serendipitous Survival: When the Angels are trying to figure out Ray Carter's cryptic message on the way to stop Madison, Natalie has a "aha!" moment that, being Natalie, has her start dancing, which causes everyone to stop and try to figure out what she's doing until she explains that he was talking about star names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (dancing was for Fred Astaire). Had she not caused them to stop, they would have been in or near their car when it exploded, instead of enough feet away to only get knocked backward uninjured.
  • Sexy Surfacing Shot: During the beach scene both Natalie, Madison and Randy get fanservice shots of them coming out of the ocean while jogging towards the camera, with the girls in bikinis and him shirtless.
  • Shirtless Scene:
    • Plenty of the male surfers at the beach are shirtless.
    • Seamus O’Grady is shirtless throughout the scene at the docks where he and his goons take on the Angels. He is even shirtless whilst walking through fire.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Natalie's boyfriend, Pete, attended his high school reunion. At Rydell High, the school featured in Grease.
    • Bruce Willis' character is named William Rose Bailey, a mix of Axl Rose's real names.
    • When the Angels visit the abbey, "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music can be heard in the background.
    • Seamus' release from prison is an almost shot-for-shot of Max Cady's release in the remake of Cape Fear, along with the score from the film playing any time Seamus does something creepy.
    • Seamus emerges from the flames just like the T-800 in the original The Terminator.
    • When The Angels disguise themselves as forensic experts to investigate a crime scene, "Who Are You", by The Who as a reference to CSI.
  • Soft Glass: In the opening, when escaping from the Mongolians, Natalie smashes the car window bare-handed yet her hand remains clean, unharmed. Later, when Alex is thrown away from Madison's speeding car and crashes into a store window, yet she got just a few scratches and bruises.
  • The Speechless: It is revealed that The Thin Man has been mute since childhood (it is implied to be due to the trauma of losing his parents at a young age). He does make a valiant attempt to speak later on, but he doesn't manage to get the words out... and is stabbed before Dylan (and the audience) get to find out if he can.
  • Spotting the Thread: Seamus is able to deduce that his crew is being led to a trap by looking at the bellboy's ass, which looks suspiciously similar to Dylan's.
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Angels find out that Madison Lee is the main villain and engage her in combat. She responds by pulling guns out and shooting them. Thankfully, they're wearing body armour.
  • "Take That!" Kiss: Madison Lee gives one to Natalie on the cheek complete with saliva strains as she holds her at gunpoint.
  • A Tale Told by an Idiot: Whenever Alex tries to tell her father what she, Natalie and Dylan really do, she makes it sound less like they're an elite team of secret agents and more like they're a trio of prostitutes. Not helped by her boyfriend Jason, who assumed her father knew about her spy work and explains some of her job's undercover antics without any context.
  • Tattooed Crook: Seamus The Irish Mob thug who has tattoos all over his arms, neck and back to symbolize his criminal nature.
  • Time for Plan B: Three times throughout the film.
    • When the Angels are caught rescuing the hostage US Marshal Ray Carter.
    • When Big Bad Madison Lee's original plan to sell off the names in the Witness Protection falls through, she plans to use a grenade to blow up a nearby Hollywood movie premiere.
    • The Angels' counter-plan to Madison's Plan B, where Bosley protects the crowd from the grenade she throws by smacking it back into the air before it explodes, making the crowd think the explosion was part of the action film's promotion.
      Bosley: Plan B stands for Plan Bosley!
  • Trailers Always Spoil: The trailers and marketing played up Madison Lee's status as the Big Bad despite it being presented in the film as a surprise twist.
  • Troperiffic: Right to the name "Full Throttle". (Probably completely intentional.)
  • Variable Terminal Velocity: An attack helicopter is set onto a flatbed truck with its rotors locked for transport. The truck crashes and the chopper falls off a dam. The Angels are able to dive off the dam, catch the helicopter, unlock the rotors, spin up the engine, and fly away before it hits the ground.
  • Waxing Lyrical: The Angels decide to pose as nightclub dancers.
    Natalie: Do a little dance?
    Dylan: Make a little love?
    Alex: Get down tonight.
  • Whip of Dominance: When the Angels are going undercover as strip dancers in a bar, Alex once again plays the role of a Dominatrix, this time with an actual whip that she cracks around, and even uses it to spank Dylan and Natalie.
  • Witness Protection: Madison's plan is to steal the list of people currently in the witness protection program and sell it to the highest bidder among several criminal groups. It turns out Dylan is one of the names on the list due to turning in evidence against Seamus after witnessing him murdering someone.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The opening has the Angels rescuing Ray Carter who later talks of having suffered a few broken ribs. After he gets the "data rings," Carter is heading out and Bosley tosses his keys over which Carter reaches up to grab easily. Both Alex and Natalie see he shows no signs whatsoever of any pain and realize Carter was faking the injuries which means he was in on this whole thing. They congratulate Bosley for the great bluff to figure it out...and he's completely confused as he had no inkling Carter wasn't hurt and was honestly just tossing the guys the keys.

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