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 <POS> they do it pretty well </POS> . ? 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 : <POS> fun , songs , and a lot of " girl power ! " drawing from a number of different films </POS> ( 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 , <POS> perhaps the best part of the film </POS> , look like they are <POS> having some honest-to-goodness fun </POS> , 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 . ) <POS> watching this film was fun </POS> , for the most part . ? there are a few slow segments , but overly , director bob spiers <POS> keeps things moving at a quick pace </POS> , with plenty of hummable spice girls songs in the background . ? his camerawork is fairly pedestrian , though the final concert number is <POS> done quite well with effective use of editing </POS> . ? the look of the film promotes the high fun , with the design of the spicebus being <POS> quite original and eye-catching </POS> . ? 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 <POS> sit back and chill because the spice girls are here to entertain you </POS> . . . and <POS> do it quite well </POS> . ? " 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
