"Inspector Gadget" the cartoon show was a funny, light-hearted romp not unlike other cartoon shows made before the duldrums of Congressional legislation changed the kids TV market. The show featured a half-man, half-robot, half-witted policeman (voiced flawlessly by Don Adams of "Get Smart" fame) and his adventures solving crimes with MUCH assistance from his niece Penny and faithful dog Brain. Having loved the TV show immensely, I immediately saw the film upon its release. Now there's one 5 dollar bill I'd like back.
I should have known how bad the movie version would be - having seen the bad commercials and the inevitable McDonald's promotional tie-ins. And to top it all off, the movie was produced by Disney - notorious for butchering perfectly good source material for their own profit. Just look at "The Jungle Book" and "The Little Mermaid", movie adaptations that are far from what the original authors of each respective work had in mind. Disney has once again chopped up its source material - this time one of my favorite cartoons.
Matthew Broderick is the predictably youthful choice to play Gadget, the man with more inventions than a swiss army knife and less brain cells than an organ grinding monkey. Had Disney wanted to make a movie more pleasing to a broader audience the natural choice to play Gadget would have been the voice of Gadget himself - Don Adams. Even considering that this is a kids movie, Broderick is extremely hammy and not at all funny as Gadget. Equally bad is Rupert Everett as Claw - he's about as intimidating as a housewife with a bad manicure.
The good news is the supporting cast is solid. Michele Tractenberg makes a good Penny (although the cartoon Penny was blonde, not brunette) and Dabney Coleman is good as Chief Quimby. Cheri Oteri as the mayor and DL Hughley as voice of the Gadget mobile are also solid for the few scenes they appear in. Joely Fisher is good as Gadget's love interest.
The worst news is that the movie ignores almost everything fans loved about the cartoon. Penny is nowhere near as smart as she was in the cartoon and Gadget nowhere near as dumb. It is apparent that no one involved in the making of the film knew anything about the material upon which the film was based. The Gadget-copter is called a "Gadget-chopper" and even Gadget's catch phrase "Wowsers!" is sans the 's'. While some criticize the cartoon as being empty-headed and formulaic, the movie is dumber and scatterbrained. It seems like the filmmakers filmed a bunch of stuff they thought would be entertaining and filled in the gaps as they went along. The plot is so scattered - the evil Gadget subplot seems tacked on - that it makes no sense whatsover.
No doubt kids, who care nothing about plot and will laugh at anything will find this movie entertaining. The old fans of the cartoon will groan in pain though. The movie gets a 9 for some nostalgic value and a -1 for entertainment value.
I should have known how bad the movie version would be - having seen the bad commercials and the inevitable McDonald's promotional tie-ins. And to top it all off, the movie was produced by Disney - notorious for butchering perfectly good source material for their own profit. Just look at "The Jungle Book" and "The Little Mermaid", movie adaptations that are far from what the original authors of each respective work had in mind. Disney has once again chopped up its source material - this time one of my favorite cartoons.
Matthew Broderick is the predictably youthful choice to play Gadget, the man with more inventions than a swiss army knife and less brain cells than an organ grinding monkey. Had Disney wanted to make a movie more pleasing to a broader audience the natural choice to play Gadget would have been the voice of Gadget himself - Don Adams. Even considering that this is a kids movie, Broderick is extremely hammy and not at all funny as Gadget. Equally bad is Rupert Everett as Claw - he's about as intimidating as a housewife with a bad manicure.
The good news is the supporting cast is solid. Michele Tractenberg makes a good Penny (although the cartoon Penny was blonde, not brunette) and Dabney Coleman is good as Chief Quimby. Cheri Oteri as the mayor and DL Hughley as voice of the Gadget mobile are also solid for the few scenes they appear in. Joely Fisher is good as Gadget's love interest.
The worst news is that the movie ignores almost everything fans loved about the cartoon. Penny is nowhere near as smart as she was in the cartoon and Gadget nowhere near as dumb. It is apparent that no one involved in the making of the film knew anything about the material upon which the film was based. The Gadget-copter is called a "Gadget-chopper" and even Gadget's catch phrase "Wowsers!" is sans the 's'. While some criticize the cartoon as being empty-headed and formulaic, the movie is dumber and scatterbrained. It seems like the filmmakers filmed a bunch of stuff they thought would be entertaining and filled in the gaps as they went along. The plot is so scattered - the evil Gadget subplot seems tacked on - that it makes no sense whatsover.
No doubt kids, who care nothing about plot and will laugh at anything will find this movie entertaining. The old fans of the cartoon will groan in pain though. The movie gets a 9 for some nostalgic value and a -1 for entertainment value.