Get Smart: it rather is, actually
We saw Get Smart last night. A fun movie, and surprisingly intelligent - they've done more than a touch of Galactica-style reimagining, and the film is thus much worthier than the source material ever was. I'd held my tongue for many decades about Get Smart the series, because it's always been so iconic and because there were so many snarfleworthy things about it: the Cone of Silence, the shoe phone, Hymie the robot, the delicious and proactive Agent 99, the wonderful theme music... but really, it was a one-joke series, and it always bothered me that Smart himself was so unrelentingly, unbelievably incompetent, even for a comedy character.
I never realised that the original Get Smart was mostly a Mel Brooks creation - that goes a long way to explaining why it was so puerile. The film OTOH is much less one-dimensional and therefore much more entertaining. For a start, Max himself - although he does have a giant's share of accidental clumsiness and plain bad luck of the slapstick variety, he actually is smart. And capable. And surprisingly high on savoir-faire. And a much better fighter than the cinematic James Bond has ever been.
A small spoiler here: the backstory has it that CONTROL was disbanded at the end of the Cold War, as far as the public knows; but of course that's not the case. Smart has worked for CONTROL all these many years, but as a high-level intel analyst rather than as a field agent. The story of how he becomes a field agent is, well, the story of the film itself.
Steve Carell IS Maxwell Smart. Totally. I know nada about his other work, although I'm told that he's mostly known for Adam Sandler-type Ahh Murkan "comedy" shite... but frankly, I don't care. I this film he rules, and I think Don Adams would be the first to shake his hand, if Adams were still with us.
Anne Hathaway as 99 ROCKS. She's simply fantastic. She channels Barbara Feldon, the original 99, and takes the character to 21st-century post-feminist heights. Five out of five.
Alan Arkin as The Chief: fabulous, and feisty as feck. He gets some priceless moments. Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson as Agent 23 also does a fine job, as do the rest of the supporting cast... including the 7ft3ins Indian wrestler who looks and sounds eerily like Richard "Jaws" Kiel.
Also: MASI OKA!!! In a major role! Through the whole film! Dude.
Oh, and the shoe phone and the Cone of Silence get a look-in, as do a number of other objects, settings and catchphrases from the original series.
The visuals are rich, the music (score by Trevor Rabin) top-notch - especially the updated versions of the original theme - and the fight scenes damned excellent. Sure, it's lightweight. Sure, it's a bit heavy-handed on the slapstick gag front. But it's a lovingly made reimagining, a good evening's entertainment, and yes, I'll want the DVD when it costs less than $20 :-)
Go see it. You know you want to.
I never realised that the original Get Smart was mostly a Mel Brooks creation - that goes a long way to explaining why it was so puerile. The film OTOH is much less one-dimensional and therefore much more entertaining. For a start, Max himself - although he does have a giant's share of accidental clumsiness and plain bad luck of the slapstick variety, he actually is smart. And capable. And surprisingly high on savoir-faire. And a much better fighter than the cinematic James Bond has ever been.
A small spoiler here: the backstory has it that CONTROL was disbanded at the end of the Cold War, as far as the public knows; but of course that's not the case. Smart has worked for CONTROL all these many years, but as a high-level intel analyst rather than as a field agent. The story of how he becomes a field agent is, well, the story of the film itself.
Steve Carell IS Maxwell Smart. Totally. I know nada about his other work, although I'm told that he's mostly known for Adam Sandler-type Ahh Murkan "comedy" shite... but frankly, I don't care. I this film he rules, and I think Don Adams would be the first to shake his hand, if Adams were still with us.
Anne Hathaway as 99 ROCKS. She's simply fantastic. She channels Barbara Feldon, the original 99, and takes the character to 21st-century post-feminist heights. Five out of five.
Alan Arkin as The Chief: fabulous, and feisty as feck. He gets some priceless moments. Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson as Agent 23 also does a fine job, as do the rest of the supporting cast... including the 7ft3ins Indian wrestler who looks and sounds eerily like Richard "Jaws" Kiel.
Also: MASI OKA!!! In a major role! Through the whole film! Dude.
Oh, and the shoe phone and the Cone of Silence get a look-in, as do a number of other objects, settings and catchphrases from the original series.
The visuals are rich, the music (score by Trevor Rabin) top-notch - especially the updated versions of the original theme - and the fight scenes damned excellent. Sure, it's lightweight. Sure, it's a bit heavy-handed on the slapstick gag front. But it's a lovingly made reimagining, a good evening's entertainment, and yes, I'll want the DVD when it costs less than $20 :-)
Go see it. You know you want to.