Inspector Gadget
***
Cinema
Releases - December 17, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. USA. Directed by David Kellogg. Written by Kerry Ehrin and Zak Penn;
from a story by Kerry Ehrin and Dana Olsen; based on characters created by
Bruno Bianchi, Jean Chalopin and Andy Heyward. Starring Matthew Broderick,
Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher, Michelle Trachtenberg, Andy Dick, Cheri Oterii,
Michael G. Hagerty, Dabney Coleman.
For dumb entertainment to be fun, it needs to
be produced by people who know that it's dumb. People making Hollywood garbage
often blunder by taking themselves too seriously -- only last week I reviewed
"End of Days", in which Arnold Schwarzenegger battles Satan. I think we all
knew that it would be terrible when we saw him on TV talking about its serious
themes and moral message.
"Inspector Gadget" is such good
trash because it has been directed by David Kellogg, an efficient helmsman
who knows exactly why this film is being made. His film is preposterous and
lightweight and fun -- as beautifully cheesy as the Saturday morning cartoon
that inspired it.
The show was broadcast in the mid-1980s, and follows
the adventures of a cop (Matthew Broderick) who is implanted with an assortment
of mechanical crime-fighting devices. "Go go gadget chopper," he could shout,
and a helicopter propeller would spring out of his hat to whisk him into
the sky. "Go go gadget oil-slick," and, well, you get the
idea.
Inspector Gadget's arch enemy is Claw, a fiendish
millionaire who is forever searching his resources for a scheme that will
foil our hero. In the show, we only saw the back of his chair, as he sat
behind a desk, watching events on a screen, stroking his cat and barking
orders into a microphone. Here, the more involved role is played by Rupert
Everett, who hams it up gleefully with bulging eyes and a relentless
giggle.
This is not exactly an adaptation of the TV show,
but more of an equivalent. The cartoon's spirit -- maximum stupidity with
crazy technology -- is replicated with special effects that give the film
the visual freedom of a comic book and a funny lead performance by Broderick
that shows dopey bemusement at everything that's going on.
"Inspector Gadget" is clearly aware of its own
shallowness. In one scene, the tacky reference "You've been watching too
many Saturday morning cartoons..." is followed by a pause, as if the director
is winking to the audience, or allowing us a moment to groan and roll our
eyeballs. Such tactics do not make bad humour good, but they do create a
nice frolicsome tone.
None of the usual criticisms of special effects
movies apply here. At 87 minutes, it's not too long. Neither the romantic
interest nor the kid are annoying, because both are played by lively, pretty
performers. The screenplay does not make some clumsy attempt to be plausible,
the camera angles are delightfully odd, the visual overkill is
appropriate.
And there's nothing unwholesome about the movie.
The theme tune at the beginning made me feel like a kid again, and everything
that followed was innocent and fanciful enough for me to enjoy. Take your
youngsters to see "Inspector Gadget". Avoid "The Rugrats
Movie".
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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