Review of Get Smart (2008) by Ionn M — 01 Apr 2012

The "Get Smart" television series was a Mel Brooks production that also became a movie and another series starring parts of the original cast. In this movie the cast is entirely new. Steve Carell is an awfully good improvisation comedian, but I missed Don Adams (1923-2005) as 86. Anne Hathaway is stunning, but I missed Barbara Feldon as 99. Dwayne Johnson is not only a professional wrestler, but also a promising actor and did a good job as agent 32 even though this isn't an original character. If you do watch this movie, see if you can spot Bill Murray making a cameo role.

Though this is a well made movie, my laugh never reached beyond an occasional amused chuckle. Maybe because the producers made it too action-driven - the TV series never had this much action. This is also the main reason why this movie rates only average on my scale. It's probably a sign of the times when producers have to use tons of explosions and action to catch the interest of an audience, but sometimes less is more - that would have been the case here. One of my favourite episodes was a tie-in to the original series by having all the cars driven by Maxwell Smart flash by; the -65 Sunbeam Tiger, the VW Karmann Ghia and the Opel GT.