It’s hard to say whether “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” celebrates girl power or sets back the feminist movement a good 20 years.

On one hand, the three angels, played by Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu, kick bad guy butt using nothing but martial arts and their wits. And while their bubbly, giggly personalities and sexed-up outfits serve as a smoke screen of sorts, it’s a little disappointing that the film panders so heartily to the male audience.

But then to say the film sets back the feminist movement would be giving it much too much credit. It is what it is – an amped-up sequel made purely to make lots of money as it rides off the success of the first film, which was actually entertaining.

This review could either be a rant on sequels or a rant on the use of sex appeal, but either way, both are truisms in Hollywood that one review isn’t going to change.

So let’s focus on the film itself.

Dylan, Natalie and Alex, played by the above mentioned trio, are back to battle evil. They’ve got some new moves and some new costumes and even a new Bosley.

We never find out what happened to Bill Murray, who played Bosley in the first film. But Bernie Mac steps in to take his place. He is supposed to serve as some sort of comic relief, but the writing just isn’t there, and even Mac’s well-timed delivery can’t save his character.

One highlight is a very toned and sexy Demi Moore playing Madison Lee, a former angel turned nasty. She clearly revels in the evil nature of her character making it clear that villains – not blondes – have more fun.

The film’s plot is essentially based around the different costumes the girls wear as they go undercover to elicit information about their assignments. In one scene the girls dress as dirt bikers with garish face paint and bad hair. In another, they are crime scene investigators. And the trio also get to dress up as nuns, welders and strippers.

All of these action-packed scenes are edited with so many fast cuts and different angles, you may be sorry you forgot to take your Dramamine. The Matrix-like special effects suffer from choppy editing. One would think the studio would at least throw enough money at the film to give the effects a wow factor.

These sequences are sloppily linked together with the other bits in the movie that are supposed to give us some insight into the girls’ personal lives. However, these scenes aren’t necessary and make the characters seem all the more pathetic.

For example, Alex (Liu), gets a visit from her dad played by John Cleese. Only Alex hasn’t told her father the truth about what she does because she doesn’t want him to be disappointed. Dylan (Barrymore) has a sadistic ex-boyfriend from her days as a metal-loving monster truck driver. And Natalie (Diaz), is just goofy in her fantasy dance sequences.

The writers tried to include as much sexual innuendo as they could a la “Austin Powers,” but the lines aren’t clever or even funny. Director McG (yes, he goes by one name only) showed some promise with the first “Charlie’s Angels” but the entertaining charm of the first is completely lost on this mess of film.

So what we’ve got is a lousily written, shoddily edited and painfully unfunny movie that reiterates that sex sells in Hollywood. Tell us something we don’t know.

“Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle”Rated – PG-13

for action violence, sensuality and language-innuendo

Starring: Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Bernie Mac

Director: McG

Length: 106 minutes

Now playing at: Astoria Gateway Cinemas, Cannes Cinema in Seaside

Short take: “Full Throttle” follows up a successful and entertaining “Charlie’s Angels” that came out in 2000. However, the charm of the first film completely escapes the sequel, which was sloppily churned out to make millions of dollars.

Rating: 1 and a half stars

Rating system:

4 stars: Absolutely the best

3 stars: Good, solid entertainment

2 stars: Wait for the video

1 star: Don’t waste your time

Movie Trivia: Which former television angel makes a cameo appearance to give Drew Barrymore’s character a little angel to angel advice.

Movie Trivia answer: Jaclyn Smith was hired to play Kelly Garrett, her character from the “Charlie’s Angels” TV series.