Denied
the chance to become a field agent the Chief (Alan Arkin, who is at his absolute best) keeps Max
where he is because he's the best of the best when it comes to
intelligence gathering. But when KAOS (an evil organisation bent on
world destruction) manages to uncover the indentities of CONTROL's
international secret agents, all bets are off.
Maxwell
gets his chance to prove his worth with veteran Agent 99 (Anne
Hathaway) as the two set off to Russia to uncover KAOS' plans.
From
the get go, this long gestating TV-to-Movie had me laughing. Throughout the middle of the film, I laughed.
In fact, there was only really one section just before the end of the film
- the big Hollywood stunt sequence - where you don't laugh.
While never being a huge fan of the original Get
Smart TV series, I have to say, I loved this.
The physical comedy that was no doubt orchestrated by one of the film's
consultants (and creator of the original Get Smart series)
Mel Brooks
is hugely entertaining.
There is
a particular scene in the first third of the film where Maxwell Smart
is trying to break out of his handcuffs in aeroplane lavatory, so he
can eventually sky dive down to his covert drop zone and begin his
first field operation. What ensues is both hugely amusing and
incredibly painful to watch.
This
is a very funny film, and it's not just the slapstick comedy that works. There is
quite a bit of wit on offer here as well, and some of Maxwell Smart's comebacks
are hilariously off-beat. While there are a number of sophisticated
stunts, the best parts of the film are simpler parts. When Max tries to use a phone to knock-out his captor complete with
triumphant scream is great, as is the excellent dance-off. These
were not elaborate scenes, but they had the audience laughing.
Carell
is excellent in the role of Agent 86, made famous by Don Adams, and while
consistently funny throughout the feature - he still manages to weave
together a surprisingly endearing relationship with the
attractive Agent 99.
The film is by no means perfect (that said, it's a darn sight better than any of the previous Get Smart film adaptions)
and does have a number of by-the-book Hollywood elements no doubt
foisted upon it by the film's financiers. Don't
go into this movie expecting Austin
Powers, because it's not. In many
ways it's a better film than the Mike Myers series.
I
wondered if this modern-day take on the bumbling super spy would be
completely devoid of the original TV series' charm, and in some ways it
is, but on the whole there should be enough classic references to keep
fans of the TV series happy.
The
Cone of Silence scene is very funny, and Carell can be heard uttering
the old "Missed it by that much", "the old shoe-phone trick" and "would
you believe" nuggets.
Performances
by the support cast give the film plenty of comedic punch too, with the
various CONTROL agents - and especially the two gadget geeks (who can be seen in a direct spin off straight-to-dvd movie) -
augmenting the production nicely.
If you like old school Mel Brooks
comedies full of physical humour, you will be in stitches with this one.
I must admit that I laughed myself silly, with solid
performances by Steve Carell and Dwayne Johnson (The
Rock just gets better and better) as Agent 23.
It's
not the most inspired movie to ever hit cinemas (the ending in identical to that of Eagle Eye), but if you think James
Bond or Jason Bourne take themselves too seriously, this is an
excellent tonic.
Get Smart will make you laugh, nearly make you cry and it sure as hell will make you think twice about messing with Maxwell Smart.
Bring on the sequel! Blu Ray DVD EXTRAS with Sean Lynch
The big question when crossing over into the Blu Ray format is
always "is it too clear?". I've been burned far to many times in the
early stages of this format's life with flicks actually looking worse because the picture is too good. All the tricks of the trade are destroyed, more often than not, so it's great to see that the new flicks look so good.
The
transfer is excellent, with the blacks holding up strong and the
picture extremely sharp. As always, the more obvious SFX shots don't
hold up as well as they do on a normal DVD - but otherwise, the depth
and contrast works a treat.
While lacking a TrueHD soundtrack
(the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 is what is on offer) there is still
plenty of kick to proceedings (if you've got yourself a decent set up,
there are some action scenes that sound great) - but you can't help but
wonder what a better sort of audio clarity would be like.
As for the extras themselves. Well, it's a bit of a mixed bag.
There
is plenty of "Steve Carrell" improv throughout the various featurettes
(the raw footage of a vomit scene is infectiously hilarious), however,
the Gag Reel was surprisingly underwhelming
However, the big
drawcard here is the inventive take on the Deleted Scenes. While
alternate and deleted scenes are usually a snore fest, this release
gives the viewer the option to watch the film one of two ways: as it
appeared in cinemas, or with the deleted and extended sequences
appearing as they should within the context of the film.
It's a
great little option open the film up to repeated viewings (and more
often) and could well lead the way to this being a regular feature on
other releases. Well woth investing in.
Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: 80%
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