Box office The film opened on November 3, 2000, earning $13.7 million in its opening day, debuting at the top of the box office. For its first weekend, the film grossed $40.1 million, dethroning
Meet the Parents, which had stayed at number one for four weeks. Eventually, ''Charlie's Angels'' grossed a total of $125,305,545 domestically. Against a budget of $93 million, ''Charlie's Angels'' grossed $125.3 million in North America and $148.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $264.1 million, making it the 12th-
highest-grossing film of 2000.
Critical response The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale. David Edelstein for
Slate, wrote, despite expecting to hate the film, he found he loved it, calling it "a charming, hyper-energetic, and wittily self-aware action comedy about gorgeous girls".
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade, with particular praise for Cameron Diaz's performance, saying "not just an Angel – that's a star".
Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone called the film a "guilty pleasure" and praised the wire work and fight choreography of Cheung-Yan Yuen. Travers was critical of the thin plot but said it is "the film's quirky sense of mischief, which sets it apart" from lesser television to film adaptations. Desson Howe of
The Washington Post said "the gals are fab. And so's the movie". He expressed mild disappointment at the men, commenting that Murray is funnier than the role written for him, and that even though Tom Green "does his weirdest best" he is only mildly amusing. In
Variety,
Todd McCarthy wrote of Diaz' performance, "Rarely has a performer conveyed the impression of being so happy to be in a particular movie."
Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times called it "a movie without a brain. ''Charlie's Angels'' is like the trailer for a video game movie, lacking only the video game, and the movie" and gave it half a star out of a possible 4 stars.
Manohla Dargis wrote: "Of course, it's terrible – but did it have to be this bad?" Mick LaSalle of the
San Francisco Chronicle called it "an utter debacle" and said the film "makes the show look like the height of creativity, imagination and restraint". LaSalle blames director McG comparing the film to a trailer or music video. He was also critical of the deliberate decision to make the three women very similar, and says "the Angels' goofiness is a big disappointment, second only to the shocking ineptitude of McG".
Other responses During the making of
Blade II,
Guillermo del Toro commented that while films like ''Charlie's Angels
had helped to popularize the wire fu style of fighting choreography in Western films, they also served as a "nail in the coffin" and prompted many filmmakers to want to get back to more "hard-hitting" action. In his commentary: "The moment you see Cameron Diaz flying in the air, and you know
that she is incapable of flying in the air and kicking five guys... you realize that it is done using wires. [...] I mean, Charlie's Angels'' was great, but it[s fighting style] was almost satirical". The opening sequence on the plane arguably was inspired by the British
Bulldog Drummond movie
Deadlier Than the Male (1967). ==Home media==