“Smart” and Fun: Review for “Get Smart”

Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart, a man devoted to his job. He writes long reports and deciphers conversations. Though his reports are actually very important, almost no one reads them. His wish is to be an agent of CONTROL. When he finally gets his wish, he is on a mission to discover where KAOS planted a nuclear bomb.  His lovely partner, Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), has looks and skills. She can really kick some butt. The brawn of the equation, Agent 23, is played well by Dwayne Johnson. The chief of CONTROL is played by Alan Arkin. The jokes are excellent and manage not to drag on like in some films. Steve Carell is very funny and always gets the best laughs, just as he does playing the other bumbling idiot he plays on The Office. The film is funny and exciting and perfect for the family. The film is based on the 1960s television series created by Mel Brooks. This is not the first incarnation of Maxwell Smart on the big screen. In 1980, The Nude Bomb was released in theaters. Smart is kind of a James Bond wannabe. He wants the girls, the gadgets, and to defeat the bad guys, but sometimes he can just fall flat on his face. He gets gadgets, which are created by a team of “geeks” named Bruce and Lloyd (Masi Oka and Nate Torrence, who also star in a direct-to-DVD feature film called Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control).  The stunts are really wonderful to watch and a little mind boggling. (It is a wonder to me as to how they got Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell up in the air skydiving.) Terrance Stamp, who plays KAOS’s representative Sigfried, is kind of a scary Bond villain. He has a very cold look in his eye and e is always as cool as a cucumber. He also likes classical music, his favorite piece being Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. His plan is to blow the Disney Concert Hall up using his favorite song. I won’t tell you the ending, but it’s a “bang” good movie. With action that will blow you away, jokes that will make you laugh time after time, and a script that doesn’t let down (written by Matt Ember and Tom Astle), it’s Smart and fun film!

Grade: A-