''Charlie's Angels'' is one of the best movies based on TV shows

”Charlie’s Angels” is one of the best movies based on TV shows

ORIGINAL TV FORMULA A paper-thin action series (1976-81) about three beautiful female private investigators who spent plenty of time in alluring undercover guises while working for a shadowy boss.

BIG-SCREEN MAKEOVER All of the series’ key ingredients — cooked up with liberal amounts of postmillennial attitude, ferocious martial artistry, and a trio of winning heroines (from left, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz, and Drew Barrymore) — make for a tasty soufflé of an action flick.

HIGH POINTS While Diaz’s ”Baby Got Back” dance routine is delightful, and Liu’s escape from death in a trailer is thrilling, nothing tops the sight of Barrymore single-handedly trouncing a group of baddies — with her hands literally tied behind her back.

LESSON LEARNED A film can succeed by being both mindless and smart.

WHAT EW SAID ”A fizzy, fashion-deep, tongue-in-cheek thriller that’s perhaps the first motion picture to make beating the unholy crap out of bad guys as adorable as it is exciting.” B

(Read the movie review.)