why do people hate the spice girls ?
? what exactly have they done wrong , other than perhaps offend the fashion police ?
? so what if they are not ” great ” singers—they ain’t singing opera , folks , its pop music !
? who exactly is a ” great ” singer ?
judging by that opening paragraph it is obvious that i like the spice girls .
? they do what they do–sing some catchy tunes–and they do it pretty well .
? they are able to carry that into their first film , ” spice world ” .
? ” spice world ” certainly isn’t a great filmgoing experience .
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what it is what the spice girls are all about : fun , songs , and a lot of ” girl power ! ”
drawing from a number of different films ( like the beatles’ ” hard day’s night ” ) ” spice world ” chronicles the week heading up to the girls’ first concert at london’s albert hall .
? they get to tool around london in a big ol’ bus ( driven by meat loaf ! ) and generally have fun .
? in order to through a semblence of plot into the film , there is an evil tabloid publisher played by barry humphries , better known to americans , for about 15 minutes , as dame edna ( remember her ? )
? he wants to sabotage the girls’ concert so he can sell papers .
of course , the point in a movie like ” spice world ” isn’t plot .
? the center of the film is the spice girls themselves : ginger ( the recently departed geri haliwell ) , posh ( victoria adams ) , sporty ( melanie chisolm ) , scary ( melanie brown ) , and baby ( emma bunton ) .
? each one has their own personality and , perhaps the best part of the film , look like they are having some honest-to-goodness fun , something that can’t be said for a lot of people in films today .
along for the ride are richard e . grant as their manager , clifford , and various other characters making quick cameo appearances ( including teriffic british actors like richard briers and stephen fry ) .
? and , every once and a while , roger moore pops up as the chief to spout odd koans ( added bonus : he gets to , in the words of craig kilborn , dance , dance , dance . )
watching this film was fun , for the most part .
? there are a few slow segments , but overly , director bob spiers keeps things moving at a quick pace , with plenty of hummable spice girls songs in the background .
? his camerawork is fairly pedestrian , though the final concert number is done quite well with effective use of editing .
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the look of the film promotes the high fun , with the design of the spicebus being quite original and eye-catching .
? add in wall-to-wall spice girls music and this film is lovable romp .
? if you don’t like the spice girls , you won’t change your mind with this film .
? but , if you find them at least tolerable , get ready to sit back and chill because the spice girls are here to entertain you .
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and do it quite well .
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” spice world ” ( 1998 ) .
? directed by bob spiers .
? written by kim fuller .
? music by the spice girls .
? with geri halliwell , victoria adams , melanie chisolm , melanie brown , emma bunton , richard e . grant , claire rushbrook , roger moore .
? distributed by columbia pictures .
? running time : 92 minutes .
? rated : pg .
? available on home video .
—- 29 june 1998