A brilliant tribute to the television series

The hit 1970s TV series gets the big screen treatment, with Natalie being played by Cameron Diaz, Dylan played by Drew Barrymore and Alex played by Lucy Liu. The three girls are the new recruits to Charlie's private detective agency, and are aided by the bumbling Bosley who is brilliantly played by Bill Murray.

There are action sequences aplenty are they are all really impressive. The sequences were put together by the people behind The Matrix's martial arts fighting sequences and you will leave the cinema exhilarated by their sheer brilliance. Bill Murray and the girls inject lots of humour into the film. Unfortunately, Murray’s appearances are brief but worth it. The vast majority of the film is totally tongue in cheek and a complete mickey take of the original series. The cast members always look like they are having a right laugh and it was certainly worth the long wait for its release which was due to production problems.

One of the aforementioned action sequences was set to a well-suited dance track and I have to say that I was on the edge of my seat. This is a girl power movie, which should also appeal to the blokes of the world.

One of the biggest surprises of this film for me was the almost cameo like appearance of Matt LeBlanc from Friends. He played Alex’s actor boyfriend, Jason Gibbons. Other surprise appearances were Tim Curry’s portrayal of bad guy, Roger Corwin and LL Cool J in a cameo role.

This film also has one of the best movie soundtracks I have heard since Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet with tracks such as Smack My B***h up by the Prodigy, Turning Japanese by the Vapors, Ya Mama by Fatboy Slim and Groove is in the Heart by Deelite. All the tracks are perfectly matched with the scenes where they are heard and if you didn’t leave the cinema wanting this soundtrack I would be very surprised.

The main crowd pullers for this film are the action and the cast, and I am sure that it was this that packed people into the cinema's over here. Drew Barrymore has made an excellent comeback into the movie scene since her cameo in the first Scream film and this is just the next in an ever growing string of hits for her.

Cameron Diaz, who charged onto the film scene after starring in the Mask with Jim Carrey, cemented her name in the Hollywood hall of fame after There's Something About Mary which showed that she had a wicked sense of humour and didn't take herself too seriously, unlike many Hollywood stars at the moment.

Lucy Liu was destined to be popular after she gained a role in Ally McBeal, her dry wit and "I just care about me" character is excellent and this, in my humble opinion, was just the beginning of a very promising career for her.

If you were not sure about whether you wanted to see this film and have now missed it at the Cinema, rent it out on video or DVD as soon as it is released because you could be pleasantly surprised. I went to see this film with my friend Adam. He thought that the film would take itself too seriously but once he realised it was a mickey take he really enjoyed it. I even surprised myself sometimes because I was laughing that loud.

Directing credits go to Joseph McGinty Nichol and Drew Barrymore was one of the producers.