INSPECTOR GADGET (PG). (Walt Disney Pictures/Buena Vista International) Director: David Kellogg Stars: Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher, Michelle Trachtenberg, Dabney Coleman, Rene Auberjonois, Michael G Hagerty, voice of Don Adams.
This pedestrian and largely unfunny adaptation of the popular children's cartoon series joins those other woefully miscast, misguided live action adaptations of animated series (The Flintstones, Mr Magoo) in the cinematic wasteland.
A strangely uncharismatic Matthew Broderick (remember his glory days as Ferris Bueller?) steps into the shoes of the robotic sleuth with more gadgets than a hardware store, but he is clearly out of his depth. Broderick plays John Brown, a security guard who dreams of becoming a police officer in Riverton. His wish comes true in a most unexpected way after he is severely injured while attempting to stop a break in at the laboratory where he works. Brown becomes the guinea pig in a revolutionary experiment conducted by the beautiful scientist Brenda Bradford (Joely Fisher) aimed at creating a robotic cop. He ends up looking like a cross between the Six Million Dollar Man and Robocop, without the inventive genius of either!
Gadget's first case involves trying to solve the murder of Brenda's father, which brings him up against the villainous industrialist Claw (Rupert Everett, in a complete contrast to his recent role in An Ideal Husband, etc), who creates an evil version of Inspector Gadget and sets about creating havoc in the city. The less than cluey Inspector Gadget gets plenty of help from his inquisitive and intelligent niece Penny (Michelle Trachtenberg, from Harriet The Spy) and her dog Brains.
David Kellogg's direction is ham fisted and unsubtle, and the film has plenty of flat moments, especially for older audiences or those who fondly remember the '80's cartoon with some affection. The special effects are occasionally quite good, but more often than not they are distinctly second rate and unconvincing.
The performances are suitably camp and unconvincing. Everett hams it up nicely as the arch villain of the piece, and almost steals the movie. Some of the film's best lines belong to the gadgetmobile, the wise cracking, talking car with attitude, whose antics will probably delight younger audiences. Don Adams, who provided the voice of Gadget in the original series, gets a brief cameo here providing the voice of Brains, the dog, in some nonsense during the final credits.
Admittedly, Inspector Gadget is comic book stuff, but still some effort should have been made to accommodate those audiences older than eight years old who will inevitably be dragged into the cinemas. The biggest problem lies with the uneven script, which can't seem to make up its mind whether it should be over the top comic book fantasy or not. There are a few clever in-jokes throughout the film (such as the Godzilla send up) that provide a few chuckles. Unfortunately, the best and most inspired moments come too late, during the final credits.
Sadly this disappointing film is a case of no go gadget!
*1/2 greg king http://www.netau.com.au/gregking
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