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 . 
. . 
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 . 
? 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 . . . 
and do it quite well . 
? 
" 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 
