Movie Review: Get Smart

Get Smart is fun, engaging, and best of all, a good tribute to the classic TV series.

When I had originally heard about this project many years ago, I had trouble believing that they would actually produce something significant. Steve Carrell had been rumoured to be in the role, and that he had really wanted to play Maxwell Smart, as a fan of the original TV series.

Then, they were going ahead with it after so many years in limbo. I was filled with anxiety. Could they really do it justice? Then, the trailer came out, and the familiar theme was played, complete with the phone booth. It was like a trip back in time. Still, I had my doubts. I didn't think they could really make a good movie out of it like so many TV to Movie franchises that have failed.

But then, this is Mel Brooks we're talking about. He brought us classics such as Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Young Frankenstein. How could this go wrong? So, I turned off my brain for an evening and went to catch it at the theatre a few weeks ago.

My anxiety about it had disappeared by the time the first scenes came along. I was won over. This was Maxwell Smart. Maybe not the Maxwell Smart that we quite remembered from the TV show, but he didn't have to be. He wasn't trying to be. He just was. What I mean by this is that they weren't trying to be exact copies of the characters we came to know and love, but that they allowed the characters to be slightly updated, fitting the actor's skill, allowing for some growth to the characters. So, for Steve Carrell's Smart, he was played perfectly in the way that Steve Carrell played him.

We get to see 99 played by Anne Hathaway, and the kind of delivery is very similar to the original 99, in her own way. Alan Arkin's portrayal of the Chief is also very good, and right on the money. I don't think I would have chosen anyone else to play him.

There's a lot going on in the movie, yet it never feels like it's dragged down for any second. It's an intelligent comedy that actually pays tribute to the series that it had been born from , instead of insulting it, and the fans.

In fact, there are a ton of little nods to the series, including things that Max originally used in the series. It's not overdone, to the point of slapping you over the head with it.

So, with that said, I came away feeling satisfied, and even impressed. One of the better TV adaptations in recent memory.