So much average

Don't Believe the Hype

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Lt. Andrews will be spinning in his grave: after rescuing Molly Stewart from a world of vice (in the original Angel) and financially supporting her through law school (in Avenging Angel, the second movie in the series), she decides to go to New York and become a blinking freelance photographer instead. Now there's gratitude for you!But being a snapper doesn't prevent Molly (now played by Mitzi Kapture) from crossing paths with dangerous criminals: after realising that the L.A. art dealer in one of her photos is actually her estranged mother, who she hasn't seen since she was abandoned by her at the age of twelve, Molly returns to California in search of answers, only to find out that her mum is involved in a cocaine smuggling racket and her sister, of whose existence she was previously completely unaware, is in danger of being sold into white slavery. When her mother is killed in a car bomb, Molly once again adopts her Angel persona, entering the world of adult films to try and rescue the only family she has left from a lifetime of forced sex with sweaty foreigners.Considering all of the trashy possibilities open to an exploitation film-maker by such sleazy subjects as prostitution, white slavery, drug dealing and the porn industry, Angel III is a very disappointing film. Sure, there's plenty of T&A on display (the first pair of bare knockers appears on screen within seconds, and the nudity continues throughout), but the pacing is dull, the direction uninspired, the story pedestrian and the less said about the acting the better. Plus, it's kinda ironic that of the three actresses to play Molly, the one with the name that sounds most like a genuine porn-star or hooker is actually the least sexy (yes, Mitzi Kapture is pretty, but she lacks either the jail-bait charm of Donna '25 going on 15' Wilkes, or the sheer va-va-voom of Betsy Russell).

If you have been reading my reviews, you will have seen that I have reviewed the original "Angel" movie and its first sequel "Avenging Angel". So what took me so long to get to "Angel III"? Well, I DID see this movie years ago... but on commercial television, and it seemed unfair to review an exploitation movie when it had been extensively edited. But today I found an uncut copy at a thrift store and watched it, so I'll review it now.First, the good stuff. The production values of this movie are not only good, they are the best of the three New World "Angel" movies. It looks like some serious money was spent at times. It's odd that this movie went straight to video when the cheaper-looking first two movies were theatrically released.When it comes to sleaze, the movie delivers more than the first two movies combined. There is a significant amount of nudity, and some of this sleaze is pretty funny to watch (like the porn film shoot.) The performances by the cast are pretty good, giving us likable good guys and hissable bad guys. (But it's clear that Adams and Roundtree only spent a few days being filmed for their surprisingly smaller-than-you'd-expect roles.) Now for the not-so-good stuff: I thought the confrontation scene of Angel with her mother made less than an impact that I think it would in real life. (Maybe the filmmakers were afraid of being too harsh.) The main ways the movie screws up is that the movie is both too long (100 minutes long!) and too slow. There's a lot here that could be eliminated, which would have given the movie an appropriately zippy pace. Also, there is the unexplained thing about Angel being a photographer in this movie - in the previous movie she was studying law... what happened? If you suffered through the disappointing first two "Angel" movies, this movie will give you some relief... though you'll still think it could be better. As for "Angel 4" (made by a different production company), I guess I will review it if I find a copy - I've gone through this series so far, so I might as well stay to the very end.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* I bought this video for three bucks. There were two hookers on the cover, one of them had a gun, and the tag line was "This beauty will blow you away." Yeah. That's all I needed to know. As an extra bonus, "Angel III" has one of the first appearances of Julie Smith. She plays the star of the porn movie that Angel infiltrates on her quest through the L.A. underworld. There was one glaring difference between the Julie Smith we all know today and the Julie Smith of yesteryear: Her breasts had shrunk dramatically. I almost didn't recognize her. The twins have grown up nice and healthy since this movie.Anyway, even though I could talk about Julie Smith's breasts all day long, "Angel III" is not about Smith or her breasts, it's about Angel. Angel decides to move back to L.A. so she can take out the trash. Her long lost mom gets mixed up with some pimps and pushers. Angel's sister is also lost in the sordid, vice-ridden world of Hollywood/L.A. Angel needs to go undercover as a porn star/hooker to uncover the truth about Maud Adams and her white slavery ring.I enjoyed this flick. It was as sordid and sleazy as it could afford to be. Maud Adams was a sparkling jewel of fine acting compared to some of the other players. There were plenty of gratuitous naked breast shots as well. The only thing a little off about this one was Angel. Angel does not get naked. That seems odd as she is the star of this sleaze fest and she is playing either a hooker or a porn star throughout most of the movie. She also doesn't really blow anybody away. She wasn't the avenging Angel I thought she would be. But even though the Angel action was a little light, I still liked this one. The sleazy exploitation vibe coming off "Angel III" was strong. It's worth a look.

Angel finds her mother, but she is shortly killed afterward in an explosion, but not before telling Angel that she has a sister. Now Angel goes back to being a streetwalker in order to find her and go head to head w/ Maud Adams.This piece of dreck is horribly made, and poor Maud who was once an extremely famous and respected actress is now stuck making crappy films like this.Rated R; Violence, Nudity, Profanity, Sexual Situations