8 out of 10
 

For years, singlehandedly, James Bond has stopped various rich megalomaniacs bent on global domination. An attractive man doing cool things is surely a winner, but how much more fun when it`s done instead by three teenage girls, led by the infinitely cute Rachael Leigh Cook. WIth their recording contract in hand, their rock band, "The Pussycats" is equipped to take on the world and even the utlimate corporate supremo, a sort of Marleen Cowpland on amphetamines.

The humour is finely crafted and parallels that of the Simpsons. With all the subtlety of a medieval assassin, the movie ruthlessly parodies the music and marketing industries, including the "Band Du Jour", a cruel, but hilarious imitation of the Back Street Boys and a New York where every skyscraper glows with giant neon signs advertising Coke and Pepsi.

In many ways, this is an upgrade of "Spiceworld", with even Alan Cummings returning again to produce hs tour-de-force as their evil, but cowardly manager. Similarly, it was pleasing to discover in the credits that Leigh Cook and her associates were personnally responsible for much of the more-than-passible music in the film and are not just a trio of acting dummies.

Whilst the characters are stereotypes and the plot simplistic, it`s deliberate - postmodernism at its best and the film has no inhibition in telling us too, often cleverly making fun of itself. For instance, at one point, one of the lesser characters is asked why she`s travelling with Josée and the Pussycats, to which she snaps, "Of course I am, I was in the original comic book series."