I used to love the original series of ‘Get Smart’ when I was a kid (it was re-run on BBC2 I think) and I was really eager to see the Steve Carell ‘remake’ (‘tribute’ would be a better word don’t you agree ratfans?) because I am a huge fan of his humour.  I almost wet myself when I recognised Terrence Stamp was in this film!……Kneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel before Zod!  Oh yes, and Masi Oka (Hiro from Heroes) is in it too.

The style of the movie perfectly fits the memories I retained of the series; perhaps that is why then that I felt a little let down by the film overall given how they managed to nail the look and feel of the original series but fell short with what I felt was a really weak script.  I imagine it to be the sort of strange deja-vu feeling a pet owner gets having cloned their favourite Cocker Spaniel ‘Blackie’ only to find it won’t hump their leg like the original did.

You could tell what they were trying to do, much like with the film ‘Johnny English’ which also fell way short of it’s true comedic potential amid the odd funny moment or two.  ‘Get Smart’ suffers from gaping and tired plotholes, a rushed storyline and too much focus on scenes which weren’t actually that funny (the bit with the sound dampning ‘cones’ is a great example of what I mean, predictable and not funny at all).  In fact, seeing this movie made me fancy watching ‘Condorman’ which would probably have been a better use of my 2 hour spy-seeking-spoof-fest; even with Michael Crawfords shit American accent.

Maybe it was just my frame of mind on a Friday night expecting the flick to be as funny as ‘Anchorman’ or satisfy my need for a good belly laugh like ‘Hot Rod’ provided in abundance?  I would say that it’s not a bad watch on a Sunday afternoon if you just fancy watching something to kill a couple of hours, just don’t expect too much from it!

That said, I’m off to grab ‘Hank and Mike’ which has been recommended to me by baldie in the hope it will make me lose control of my bladder.