Get Smart

June 20th, 2008

Rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence, and language

Peter Segal (dir.)

Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart

Anne Hathaway as Agent 99

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Agent 23

Alan Arkin as The Chief

Terrence Stamp as Siegfried

Our reviews below:

_____________________________________________

Get Smart Review By John C.

*** (out of 4)

Enough action to keep me entertained, but I already knew most of the gags from the trailers and sadly, the least funny of the gags are the ones the filmmakers seem to think are the funniest. None of the overweight people jokes worked for me, (in particular a recurring theme that Maxwell Smart used to be obese which leads to extremely unfunny and even disgusting scenes), and a lot of the people in the press screening I attended weren’t laughing that much at some of these scenes either. It is almost as if the writers watched Johnny English, (which wasn’t that funny to begin with, but they have borrowed more then one scene from it), Night at the Museum, (there is a scene involving little darts that keep hitting him in the face, and another one almost exactly like the scene with Attilla the hun in NATM), and all the episodes of the old Get Smart TV show.

When it works it really works and is really funny, especially scenes in a museum with all the props from the show. The action sequences are all not only highly entertaining but really well done, (the last one including a helicopter, SUV and a train is particularly amazing), and the actors are all really good (especially Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart and Alan Arkin as The Chief). I think all they needed was a tougher test audience and a slightly bigger editing room. But with these flaws it is still well worth seeing and I would definitely recommend it. Made it by that much.

___________________________________________________

Get Smart Review By Erin V.

*** (out of 4)

I went into this movie expecting a 2 1/2 star movie, and I got one worth 3 stars. One downside is that I had seen most of the trailers, and clips before, which told a lot of jokes, and plot. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, which had lots of action sequences, and a fairly good plot line.

The movie begins with Maxwell Smart, [Steve Carell], arriving at the Control headquarters, [it is in this scene that you see all of the props from the show], although he is not an agent yet. There are scenes where Max is training alongside agent 23, [Dwayne Johnson], who is one of Controls best agents, to try to become an agent himself. The scenes cut back and forth and you find out that KAOS is planning something big. This leads to most of Control’s agents identities being compromised, and they have to promote Max. Maxwell Smart, now agent 86, is paired up with agent 99, [Anne Hathaway], to find out what KAOS is up to, and stop them at all costs.

The rest of the movie plays out with many action sequences, and even a few twists at the end, that hadn’t occurred to me beforehand. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, if you paid close attention to the movie trailers, and clips, [luckily I hadn’t], you could ruin one of the main plot points, and most of the worthwhile jokes for yourself. Speaking of jokes, I found that some of them, though probably thought hilarious on set, fell kind of flat. This movie, with maybe 5 minutes cut, could have been raised a little bit higher in my opinion.

Overall, a fun Summer movie to go see. [Just don’t sit too close to the screen if there are other seats left. When I went the theater was packed, and that’s where I ended up. This made the action sequences kind of blurred, and not nearly as enjoyable as they would have been further back.]

___________________________________________________

Get Smart Review By Nicole

*** (out of 4)

I attended a prescreening of Get Smart the other night. It has lots of good quick action, and a lot of funny moments as well. The funniest scenes are near the end, with a lot of action that is both exciting and hilarious. Steve Carrell plays a good Maxwell Smart, [though I have only read about the original TV show with Don Adams.] The only drawbacks is that some of the humour revolving around people’s weight may offend some, and the shoe phone is only used once. I also would not recommend this movie for children under 12, as there is some violence, [though there is no blood]. However, this is a fun movie that will be enjoyed over the Summer. It makes me want to see the original TV show.

___________________________________________________

Get Smart Review By Maureen

*** (out of 4)

As a person of a certain age, I grew up watching Get Smart on TV. This Get Smart movie kept my childhood memories intact. Steve Carrell did justice to Don Adam’s Maxwell Smart. The movie had good action, good gags, and kept a lot of the quirky character of the original show. I could have done without the fat jokes however. I would suggest keeping the little kiddies at home, but for big kids at heart like me, it’s good Summer fun. Go out and enjoy.

___________________________________________________

Get Smart Review By Tony

*** (out of 4)

During my high school years in the 60’s, Get Smart consistently provided nonstop laughs once a week, at least until the last season, when it moved from NBC and jumped the shark. It still holds up in reruns. Despite changes in technology and comic timing after 40 years, the movie generally works. The main actors play their roles well in their own way, without needing to mimic their older counterparts too closely. Enough of the classic gags are included where appropriate. In a few spots the humour didn’t work for me, but generally the plot and pace kept things moving along well.

___________________________________________________

Consensus: Enjoyable Summer action comedy for teens and adults. *** (out of 4)

Next week: WALL•E