Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

Go, Go Gadget Flashback!
By
Michael C. Riedlinger
Editor-In-Chief

            Back before cable and satellite were a mainstay in most every home, the most television variety one could expect on a rainy summer afternoon was from UHF channels. Many of my generation spent the 80’s watching re-runs ofThe Munsters, The Addams Family, and Get Smart. While the first two were funny, they didn’t possess the sheer comic genius of Mel Brooks and Don Adams. It was with some trepidation that I sat down to see the latest retelling of these classic characters in cinematic form, because so many fond memories have been trashed by crappy remakes. Get Smart, however, is in the hands of Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Anger Management) so I had nothing to worry about.

            In fact, everything I could think to look for was spot-on. Steve Carell (40 Year-Old Virgin, The Office) was dead on with the dead pan that made Don Adams so loved over the 5 years the TV series ran. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Anne Hathaway held their own, providing great support to Carell’s Maxwell Smart, and Alan Arkin had me laughing my ass off as The Chief. Action-comedies based on old TV shows don’t usually work, but this one really does.

Click image to visit the site

            For audiences that aren’t aware of Maxwell Smart’s James Bond-like pedigree, and probably for sequel purposes, the film starts off with an origin story. Max is an analyst at CONTROL, working relentlessly to inform America’s spy network about the goings-on of villainous terrorist groups like Al-Queda and CHAOS. Of course, what he really wants is a promotion to field agent because that’s where all the action is. His office buddies Bruce and Lloyd (TV actors Masi Oka and Nate Torrence respectively) are pulling for him, but no one else at headquarters thinks he can do the job. The Chief, of course, is the exception, and when CHAOS trashes CONTROL HQ, Max gets the bump he’s been looking for. He is teamed up with the beautiful Agent 99, and sent to investigate a bomb builder in Russia who may be building nukes for CHAOS. Typical hijinks ensue and the colorful cast of villains must contend with Smart’s effective buffoonery.

            The villains, while typically clichéd, are still a hoot in Get Smart. Ken Davitian (Borat) is the chunky right-hand man to Siegfried (Terrance Stamp, A.K.A. General Zod from Superman II), and Dalip Singh (WWE’s “The Great Khali”) provides the muscle. When I say that the villains all seemed cartoony, I mean it as a comliment here. See, the reason why so many of you loved Inspector Gadget as kids is because they really captured the essence of Get Smart. The bad guys are just humans, after all, who’ve just chosen to do bad things.

            This film had everything I hoped it would. The comedic mix of dead-pan and slap-stick was perfect, the gadgets were appropriately goofy, and the story actually functioned without being either patronizing or out-dated. Hit a matinee if you’re not certain it’s your thing, but if you liked the show, you’ll dig the movie. In any case, it beats one-liners that are only truly funny when quoted out of context.