Java Man Reviews "Get Smart" Directed by Peter Segal. Written by Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember, based on characters created by Mel Brooks & Buck Henry. Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terrence Stamp, Patrick Warburton, James Caan & Ken Davitian. Originally appeared in LakewoodBuzz.com August, 2008.
OVERVIEW:
The film opens in Washington, D.C., where Maxwell Smart (Carell) walks in the footsteps of his television progenitor, Don Adams . . . down a corridor of opening and closing sliding-doors and into a telephone booth from which he precipitously drops into the secret headquarters of the spy agency CONTROL. When CONTROL is attacked by its evil rival, KAOS, the identities of its agents are compromised and the Chief (Arkin) has no choice but to promote Smart, who has always dreamed of working in the field with Agent 23 (Johnson).
But Smart is teamed with the only other agent whose identity hasn't been compromised . . . the competent, eye-catching Agent 99 (Hathaway). As Smart and 99 get closer to unraveling KAOS' sinister intentions, they discover that evil operatives Siegfried and Shtarker (Stamp and Davitian) are scheming to set off a bomb in Los Angeles where the president (Caan) is attending a concert.
REVIEW: 2.5 out of 4 Java Mugs!
IT'S A MASTERPIECE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!... Would you believe a somewhat entertaining popcorn spy movie!
Back in the mid-60s, I remember waiting each week for Maxwell Smart's always hilarious "would you believe" line. In this film, we wait a long time, and when we get it, it just isn't the same. The original TV series (starring Adams and Barbara Feldon) was written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. On this film, they are listed as "consultants." They should have written it.
The narrative is at its best when borrowing from other films, such as the James Bond series, Three Days of the Condor, and even Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. But this is also part of the film's problem . . . it doesn't know what it wants to be: A full-blown spy thriller? Or a spoof of the spy thriller genre?
We see well-executed stunts, impressive skydiving sequences and exuberant chases . . . the kind of film-making that would catch the eye of a Bond director. But is this what we want to see in a spoof? Do we want James Bond, or do we want Maxwell Smart? We want them both, of course, but not necessarily in the same character.
Carell is fine as Smart and wisely does not try to imitate the one-of-a-kind character created by Adams. Hathaway is a competent Agent 99, as sexy as Feldon, though not nearly as funny. The supporting performances are much better than the leads, especially veterans Arkin, Stamp and Caan, who seem much more at home with the film's '60's zeitgeist.
But the movie is fun to watch, and in fact . . .
IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH $10.00 AT THE MULTIPLEX! . . . Would you believe $3.00 to $4.00 at a second-run grindhouse?
OVERVIEW:
The film opens in Washington, D.C., where Maxwell Smart (Carell) walks in the footsteps of his television progenitor, Don Adams . . . down a corridor of opening and closing sliding-doors and into a telephone booth from which he precipitously drops into the secret headquarters of the spy agency CONTROL. When CONTROL is attacked by its evil rival, KAOS, the identities of its agents are compromised and the Chief (Arkin) has no choice but to promote Smart, who has always dreamed of working in the field with Agent 23 (Johnson).
But Smart is teamed with the only other agent whose identity hasn't been compromised . . . the competent, eye-catching Agent 99 (Hathaway). As Smart and 99 get closer to unraveling KAOS' sinister intentions, they discover that evil operatives Siegfried and Shtarker (Stamp and Davitian) are scheming to set off a bomb in Los Angeles where the president (Caan) is attending a concert.
REVIEW: 2.5 out of 4 Java Mugs!
IT'S A MASTERPIECE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS!... Would you believe a somewhat entertaining popcorn spy movie!
Back in the mid-60s, I remember waiting each week for Maxwell Smart's always hilarious "would you believe" line. In this film, we wait a long time, and when we get it, it just isn't the same. The original TV series (starring Adams and Barbara Feldon) was written by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. On this film, they are listed as "consultants." They should have written it.
The narrative is at its best when borrowing from other films, such as the James Bond series, Three Days of the Condor, and even Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. But this is also part of the film's problem . . . it doesn't know what it wants to be: A full-blown spy thriller? Or a spoof of the spy thriller genre?
We see well-executed stunts, impressive skydiving sequences and exuberant chases . . . the kind of film-making that would catch the eye of a Bond director. But is this what we want to see in a spoof? Do we want James Bond, or do we want Maxwell Smart? We want them both, of course, but not necessarily in the same character.
Carell is fine as Smart and wisely does not try to imitate the one-of-a-kind character created by Adams. Hathaway is a competent Agent 99, as sexy as Feldon, though not nearly as funny. The supporting performances are much better than the leads, especially veterans Arkin, Stamp and Caan, who seem much more at home with the film's '60's zeitgeist.
But the movie is fun to watch, and in fact . . .
IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH $10.00 AT THE MULTIPLEX! . . . Would you believe $3.00 to $4.00 at a second-run grindhouse?