AGGRESSIVE MEDIOCRITY WEAKENS `SET IT OFF' : THE FACTS.

Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Staff Writer

``Sistahs'' are doin' it for themselves, waving automatic weapons and disguised in Tina Turner wigs and sunglasses, in this us-against-the-world female action movie about four fast friends from South Central L.A. who set aside their janitorial work to turn to bank robbery.

But while this self-serious urban tragedy has heart, grit and an occasional flash of wit, its sloppiness and overall lack of brains confines it to the category of aggressive mediocrity.

F. Gary Gray, the 26-year-old who previously directed New Line's hip-hop comedy ``Friday'' and a string of award-winning rap music videos, proves himself not only a splashy, attention-getting filmmaker but also an all-over-the-place storyteller who wants to have things every way at once.

On the one hand, he wants our firm sympathy for his protagonists, portrayed as victims of a system that never cuts them any slack. On the other hand, he wants to outdo other filmmakers with outrageous action - cars crashing through buildings, gory shootouts - that quickly transforms these young women from society's victims into major menaces. It's a development the soft-headed story never bothers to deal with.

Gray isn't too shy to borrow from other movies, most conspicuously from ``Thelma & Louise,'' which he apes from the posse of helicopters and squad cars that corner the anti-heroines to the Harvey Keitel-style sympathetic cop (John McGinley) who tries to reach out to the outlaw femmes.

But the movie, written by Takashi Bufford (``House Party 3'') and Kate Lanier (``What's Love Got to Do With It?'') saddles us with characters who are ambushed by their own ill-thought amateurism, and is more loosely rendered and less persuasive than that or other worthwhile outlaw flicks.

Which isn't to say that ``Set It Off'' won't be profitable. Pumped up with enough violent action and stunts to appeal as strongly to young urban males as to females, it has a concept and elements that are on time and likely to be eagerly embraced.

The performances are appealing, with rap recording artist Queen Latifah demonstrating persuasive acting chops as she transforms herself into the group's tough but joyful lesbian ringleader, and she's set up by director Gray with the kind of never-say-die, bullet-riddled demise (a la ``Bonnie and Clyde'') that transforms a mere `` 'hood rat'' into an urban legend.

This is the kind of romanticized tragedy that young minds embrace and that the gangsta rap music industry thrives on. Throw in a smoldering performance by Blair Underwood as a Prince Charming-style banker who tries to rescue the appealing Stony (Jada Pinkett, in a tough and tender performance) from her urban ``cage,'' and ``Set It Off'' is likely to do just that at the box office. More discriminating moviegoers will be left behind.

The film: ``Set It Off'' (R; violence, language, drug use, sex).

The stars: Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Kimberly Elise, John McGinley, Blair Underwood.

Behind the scenes: Directed by F. Gary Gray. Written by Kate Lanier and Takashi Bufford, based on a story by Takashi Bufford.

Running time: Two hours, one minute.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Two stars.

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Photo

Photo: Jada Pinkett, left, Kimberly Elise, Queen Latifah and Vivica A. Fox star as four fast friends from South Central L.A. who set aside their janitorial work to turn to bank robbery in ``Set It Off.''