You’re probably wondering why we are running a review for a spy comedy on a sci-fi website. Let me explain. In the Sixties there was a TV show, created by Mel Brooks, called Get Smart. Basically, it poked fun at James Bond, who was the movie spy of the time, especially the gadgets, in much the same way the James Coburn film OUR MAN FLINT did, except where Coburn was a suave and sophisticated womaniser, Maxwell Smart was totally inept at everything – but that was his charm. Whether or not Smart creator Brooks was having a satirical dig at the CIA’s incompetence I don’t know. (How do we know the CIA wasn’t involved in the assassination of JFK? Because he was killed.) The success of the Get Smart series wasn’t really down to the gadgets or the regular collection of super villains, it was all based on Don Adams portrayal of Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), a secret agent so naïve that he actually believed he was good at what he did. While he invariably got the villain, it was usually thanks to his attractive female assistant Agent 99. There was also the increasingly inventive ways of presenting regular scenarios and opportunities for Adams to deliver Smart’s variety of catchphrases in his famous nasal drone. Adams was Smart, and even when he did the voiceover for the Inspector Gadget cartoon series it was difficult to separate the characters. So when I heard they were making a movie of this much-loved series, starring Steve Carell, to say I was dubious would be an understatement. So with much trepidation, and a little prejudice, I went off to the press screening.
Reviving cult favourites is always a gamble, whether on the big screen or small. Very few do it successfully – in the eyes of the fans – the major exception being Battlestar Galactica, which is in a league of its own. Thankfully, what the creators of the movie have done is take the essence of the characters and completely re-invented them for a modern audience, thereby reducing the likelihood of comparisons with the original. For a majority of the movie’s audience this was not even going to be an issue because they won’t have even seen the original, which has recently been released on a DVD box-set.
In the movie Smart (Carell) is an information analyst (who puts the “anal” in analyst) for the US spy agency CONTROL, but he has never been able to get his field agent’s badge. When CONTROL is attacked and the identities of all the other field agents are compromised it is up to Smart and the lovely Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to uncover the plans of their nemesis organisation KAOS, led by the ruthless Siegfried (Terence Stamp).
The success of the film is down to the comic talent of Carell, and a great supporting cast. Dwayne Johnson again proves he is developing into a fine comic actor as superstar spy, Agent 23, by parodying his muscular good looks. Alan Arkin (Carell’s LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE Oscar-winning co-star) plays the long-suffering Chief, and other familiar faces include James Caan as the US president, Bill Murray as Agent 13, and Heroes‘ Masi Oka as one of CONTROL’s geeky gadget inventors.
There is some brilliant physical comedy from Carell that really brings tears to the eyes, and the stunts and action sequences are far more ambitious than anything from the original, although they do nothing to enhance the story or the comedy. Surprisingly, it is the catchphrases from the TV show that don’t really work. It is if they put them in because the fans expected them to be there but they didn’t feel like they were part of the new character. There were some other nods to the TV series such as the opening sequence and subtler ones like Max’s car and shoe phone in a museum display, and the original Siegfried actor Bernie Kopell having a small cameo.
This movie may not have the same charm and originality of the TV series but it is still a great comedy and the creators and performers should be commended for producing something that still pays homage to its origins but stands on its own merits.
GET SMART is out on August 22 from Warner Bros.
Review: Chris Patmore