Get Smart Reviewed!

Get Smart
Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson, Masi Oka, and Terrance Stamp
Directed by: Peter Segal

Get Smart, in theaters today, is the remake of the 60's television series about a top secret government spy agency, CONTROL, and its arch nemesis KAOS.

Admittedly, I am pretty much completely unfamiliar with the original show beyond the shoe phone and Don Adams so this review is with fresh eyes not tainted by fandom of the source material.

Let’s get some basics out of the way first. Get Smart stars Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne (formerly The Rock) Johnson, Alan Arkin, Masi Oka, and Terrance Stamp.

The plot surrounds KAOS trying to get nuclear material and the exposing of identities of the CONTROL’s secret agents around the world that leads to the promotion of Maxwell Smart from Analyst to Field Agent. To call it paper thin would be an exaggeration. The movie doesn’t have a plot so much as an excuse to set up its clichéd and tired action sequences.

Oh, did I mention that movie is bad? I guess I haven’t made it that far yet. Let’s get that out of the way now. The movie is bad. Terrible even.

I was looking forward to this movie. The first trailer I saw got me excited and eager to see it and when the opportunity came up to review it I was all over it. I’m not sure what happened between the trailer and the actual movie but the excitement and the eagerness vanished as I was watching the movie.

The laughs are just not there. I chuckled once, maybe twice.

It’s not for lack of trying. The cast does their best. Steve Carell was a great choice to take over the franchise. It’s just the material he is working with isn’t very good. There is nothing new here, not a single moment of original thought in the movie. It can barely be called a spoof because it’s not funny enough and it’s certainly not a serious spy movie because it’s too silly.
The rest of the cast is serviceable with the exception of Terrance Stamp. This may be the first time this has been said but he was simply awful. Maybe it was just a paycheck for him or he knew going in that he was going to be in a crap movie but he certainly gave zero effort.

I’m trying to think of something good to say about the movie. There are a couple cameos, one of which is so pointless that I can’t begin to understand why they even put him in the movie. I guess it was another scene that was supposed to be funny that was brutally not, it was downright uncomfortable.

The ending was so predictable that I had to hold my breath to keep from groaning. They do try to pay homage to the show at one point. I’ll leave that detail unspoiled for those of you that plan on wasting your money on this.

To be honest, I found myself more interested in the number of Raisinets that came in a box than the actual movie.

In the end, Get Smart is a dull, uninspired, clichéd mess. Skip it.