Get Smart (PG-13)
Mike:
Scott:
Tonight we are reviewing Get Smart
, a remake of the 1960s spy spoof starring Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart.
What did you think?
Mike: I loved this movie. The film is very funny, it has great action scenes and it even has a plot. This movie is a great tribute to the old series. And I laughed all the way through. Unlike You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, all the best jokes were not in the trailer.
How about you?
Scott: I liked it. I thought this was going to be a bad version of the Naked Gun series. I really thought it was going to be a dumb slapstick movie, not the movie we got. It was actually funny. Carell played the role like it should have been played.
Mike: Steve Carell is the perfect choice to succeed funny man Don Adams in this role. He captures the essence of bumbling agent 86, without trying to imitate Adams. The great thing is with this cast, not all the funny stuff goes to Carell.
Scott: I thought Carell would play the role like Insp. Jacques Clouseau. I expected a bumbling idiot and was very happy that didn’t happen.
Mike: The other leads start with Anne Hathaway in the Barbara Feldon role of sexy agent 99. I will just tell the guys out there that her legs are a highlight and you get to see plenty of them. She does very well as the “straightman” to Carell’s Maxwell Smart.
Scott: In the movie there was a little homage to the only good scene in Entrapment starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. It was funny and it showed off Hathaway’s legs like you mentioned.
Mike: Alan Arkin gets to show off his comedic talents as The Chief of Control. This is a nice follow up to his humorous turn as the grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine.
Scott: Arkin had some really funny lines in this movie. I was laughing so hard after one of them that I missed a couple minutes of dialogue.
Mike: Rounding out the leads are Dwayne(Don’t call me The Rock anymore) Johnson. Even though I had already seen it in the trailer, I almost fell on the ground when he stapled a paper to a guy’s head.
Scott: He plays the ultimate agent, the star quarterback of the agents. It’s funny to see him stick up for the intelligence analyst Smart, before Smart becomes a field agent.
Mike: Viewers will recognize a number of others in the film: Terence Stamp (Superman2) , Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), David Koechner (Semi-Pro), Masi Oka (Heroes), and James Caan (The Godfather). There are also two great surprise cameos that I won’t spoil here, but be on the lookout for Agent 13 and Hymie.
Scott: Don’t forget that an original Get Smart cast member makes an appearance too. I won’t give the person away, keep an eye out.
Mike: One great thing is that all the character names come from the original show, from Larabee of Control to Seigfried and Shtarker of KAOS. Fans will also get the beloved non-working Cone of Silence, the shoe-phone and the original them song. Expect to hear “Missed it by that much”, “Would you believe…” and other catchphrases, but you won’t be pummeled by them. Heck, even Maxwell Smart’s orange convertible Sunbeam Tiger makes an appearance.
Scott: The Cone does get technology update, but still works the same.
Mike: There are some great action scenes as well. I was impressed with the skydiving sequence that is obviously real and not shot on a green screen. The plane-train chase is worthy of a flat out action movie.
Scott: I guess the action scenes are where I was the most surprised. I wasn’t expecting blockbuster type scenes and we got them and I liked them. Normally, there are so many that they all run together. With this movie there were only a couple and they were done well and were exciting.
Mike: Director Peter Segal handles a great mix of comedy and action. With this he follows up a run of some of Adam Sandler’s better comedies including 50 First Dates and Anger Management.
Scott: Finally a movie that’s not stupid funny! It seems like all we have are the dumb comedies lately.
Mike: I give this movie 4 stars overall and 4 stars as an action comedy. I think this movie will appeal to anyone looking for a good laugh as well as the fans of the classic TV series.
How about you?
Scott: I give this movie 3.5 movies overall and a 4 for action comedy. I was happy the movie turned out the way it did and I think the public will be happy too.
Get Smart and get to a movie theater this weekend!
