Got Smart?

by July 3rd, 2008 - Culture » Film and TV »

One of the most ridiculous yet subtle pieces of comedy in the movie was the unveiling of KAOS’ main muscle, a massive hulk of a man with an impossibly criminal face, a surreally stereotypical henchman played by professional wrestler Dalip Singh. Just barely fitting within the frame of a jet airplane, he “covertly” spies on Max and 99, waiting for his chance to strike. The CONTROL agents are aware of this blunt murderous creature, but the threat is just so obvious that the audience for a moment goes along with Max as he questions whether they are profiling the poor monster.

I was excited to see David Koechner in the movie as Smart’s coworker Larabee, but feel that his talents were wasted in such a small and unfortunately straight role…at least as it was written. Of course, I seem to be saying that a lot in regards to David Koechner, which leads me to begin questioning his talents. Here’s hoping he starts getting some better, stranger range in his future roles.

Bill Murray pops up as Agent 13, the forever uncomfortably and impossibly placed undercover agent. Considering how small a role it was, Murray surprisingly does not phone in his performance, stuck in a tree and just so…SO happy to see Max.

Masi Oka, loveable Hiro Nakamura from Heroes and Nate Torrence play Bruce and Lloyd, respectively, CONTROL’s bumbling gadget geeks and true peers of Maxwell Smart. Their comic relief has also already been packaged into the direct-to-DVD feature Get Smart’s Bruce and Llloyd out of Control. It is…horrible. Almost unwatchable. Really…not good. I would love to tell you to go out and purchase it anyway just to support the Get Smart war machine, but that would be unconscionable. It is a limp-dick PG fart-fest, its theme song and environment the only things it shares with the original Get Smart aesthetic.

The better offspring of Bruce and Lloyd is the brief appearance of Hymie, a mentally stunted robot agent ripe for seriously dumb comedy. The character is delightfully filled by Patrick Warburton, providing great anticipation for expanded screen time in sequels or other future projects.

The plot? Oh what does it matter? KAOS, the bad guys, are gonna blow up the world if they don’t get a ridiculous amount of money. CONTROL, the good guys, must stop them with their newest, unlikely agent Maxwell Smart. That’s it.

And that’s all you need. Get Smart, at heart, isn’t about fascinating plot twists, biting social commentary, or high drama. It is a property almost completely characterized by…its caricatured…characters.

Therefore, it is not simply my fan-boy sentimentality that has me focusing on the adaptation of these classic characters. It is truly central to whether any Get Smart project is successful. While some very heavy alterations were made with some of the characters in order for the movie to have a larger appeal, enough was kept of the original aesthetic to make it a moderately successful venture…which is more than enough to make a fan-boy such as myself swoon.

Given the film’s surprising box office success, hopefully the filmmakers can take it a step sillier in the future. If not another movie, I think the property could be easily adapted into a television series. Cancel The Office and put Carell to work on a real show. And if Anne Hathaway is above doing television…I can and will strap on my breasts and go to work as a much more doting and sensuous 99…once more providing all of the world’s television audiences with a real escapist – yet somewhat vulgar and hairy-legged – fantasy.

I’m Thomas K…and I’m not.

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