GET SMART (2008) - Peter Segal

I have a vague recollection of watching Get Smart on television in the late 1980’s. It was one of those television shows channels here bought from the US and broadcast in the 6pm slot along with The A-Team, Night Rider and other safe for kids shows. I don’t remember much about the show other than the opening titles. And as for Maxwell Smart, Don Adams, well, people from my generation are more familiar with him for providing the voice of Inspector Gadget. So I went into the film adaptation of Get Smart with no investment to the television show what so ever.

Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart, an analyst for the covert government operation, CONTROL. Max isn’t the brightest of agents, but he’s a superb analyst with a desire to become a field agent. After taking the field agent test for the eighth time, Max passes. But due to his skills as an analyst, he’s refused field agent status. However, CONTROL is infiltrated by the evil organisation, CHAOS, and almost all field agents are exposed. Max, and Agent 99 are the only two agents who still retain their secret status, so Max finally gets his chance to become the agent he’s always wanted to be. And thus, hilarity ensues.



Well, no so much hilarity, as mild amusement. Finding Get Smart funny depends on one vital factor. Whether or not you find Steve Carell funny. He’s the star of the show and as such, gets all the jokes. Literally, all of them. There are one or two jokes for the other characters in the film, but really, they’re just there to provide Carell with something to work off. And having said all this, you can really tell Carell had a hand in the writing to some degree. The comedy here is quite similar in ways to Carell’s work on The Office. Sure, there’s no reality TV element, but the general feel off the film is you’re watching Carell in Michael Scott mode.

It’s not that Carell can’t do anything other than Michael Scott. Carell was great in The 40 Year Old Virgin. And he showed that he can act in Little Miss Sunshine. But here, he’s just another version of Michael Scott. Which, for me, isn’t bad. The Office is a show which has ditched it’s ties to the original and classic British version and has found it’s own feet, largely down to the work of Carell. And when he’s funny in Get Smart, Carell is very funny. However, it’s a strange thing. While Maxwell Smart is somewhat dumb, he’s also quite intelligent, and it’s this which causes things to unravel somewhat. I don’t know if it’s because we’re predisposed as an audience as to comedy archetypes, or if it’s down to poor writing, but I just found myself unsure of how I was supposed to feel about Max. Something about his character didn’t quite fit.



The support cast don’t really get up to much. Alan Arkin, Carell’s co-star from Little Miss Sunshine get’s most of the support comedy, but it’s not exactly hilarious. Dwayne Johnson fills the role of the super-agent without breaking much of a sweat, but he also feels underused as comedy support. The Rock’s a big guy, and has that whole tough thing going on, and something could have been done with that, but alas no. Even General Zod himself, Terence Stamp is reduced to fleeting scenes. So much more could have been done with him. In fact, the best support part came from the criminally underused Patrick Warburton who turns up for a tiny cameo towards the end of the film. The man’s voice alone is hilarious. As for Anne Hathaway. She’s got nothing to do but look good and occasionally throw a punch. Hell, they even manage to provide Bill Murray with a cameo which isn't funny. HOW DO YOU MAKE BILL MURRAY UNFUNNY?!

Get Smart isn’t terrible. It’s got it’s moments. But these moments are reserved for Carell and there in lies the rub. If you like Carell, you will find plenty of laughs. If you don’t, avoid the film. You’ll find nothing here to keep you entertained.


6/10

WANTED (2008) - Timur Bekmambetov

2008, the year of the comic book movie... although recently, every year has seemed to be the year of the comic book movie, marches on with another adaptation. Where as the bigger names, the Batmans, Iron Mans and Hellboys are more recognisable to the general public, Wanted, adapted from Mark Millar’s comic of the same name, will be less recognisable. It arrives with less of a fanfare than the other films mentioned, and doesn’t feature leather or rubber clad super humans. Instead, it’s a bit of a gun fetishist movie.

Wesley Gibson is an office-working drone with a cheating girlfriend, miserable apartment and a life that nobody would envy. He’s prone to anxiety attacks and apologises constantly for things that aren’t even his fault. One day he’s approached by a woman in a drug store. She tells Wesley his father was one of the worlds’ greatest assassins and that he is a marked man himself. Wesley is introduced to The Fraternity, an ancient brotherhood of assassins who take orders from fate and assassinate people in order to keep the world stable. Wesley is told he has inherited his father’s gifts and must use them to take his father’s place as one of the world’s top assassins.



Some comic book movies take themselves very seriously. Which works for them. Some are a bit camp, which fits in with some views of the comic medium. And then you have the films that are just about the action. And this is the category Wanted falls into. You really need to check your brain at the door, because there is nothing in the film that really needs any use of the old gray matter. It’s a film that’s all explosions and bullets. There are some real tongue-in-cheek humour moments and plenty of gore. As long as you’re aware of what you’re letting yourself in for, there’s plenty of enjoyment to be had from the film.

The plot of the film is pretty thin. Paper thin. It’s yet another origin story, but since there’s not much to the characters, the origins part is more like a training montage from the Rocky films. These characters don’t have super powers or fancy gadgets. What they do have, however, is a love for guns and bullets that is a little odd. The type of love a man should really reserve for his partner. Or a very fine pair of pants. But if you’ve seen the trailer, you pretty much know what to expect, so don’t complain about the lack of plot.



The performances are very much in tone with the plot. There’s little to do but provide mouths for dialogue and hands for guns. James McAvoy plays the weak Wesley quite convincingly, and can deliver the action parts when necessary. Although there’s little bare knuckle fighting to be done, he has two legs for running, a finger for pulling a trigger and he uses them well. Angelina Jolie has little to do but smirk, stand around and look sexy. She pretty much delivers that by turning up to the set, and when she’s required to deliver some action, she too has little problem. Everyone’s favourite mentor, Morgan Freeman plays Sloan, the leader of the Fraternity. I have a feeling Freeman did this one for the dollars, as it’s not exactly a taxing role. Although it’s worth the price of admission alone to hear the man who embodies gravitas say the line ‘kill this motherfucker.’

Director Timur Bekmambetov previously delivered the almost incomprehensible but visually entertaining Russian films Nightwatch and Daywatch. Those films were thick with visual style, and Bekmambetov delivers the same here. There are some moments that will either make you grin or roll your eyes. Some of the action sequences get a little confusing. But it’s a frenetic film and it makes no apologies for being that way. Really, Wanted is 2008’s 300. It’s absolutely nothing but testosterone and action. For some, that will fall far from the mark of a decent film. But if you accept the film for what it is, you’ll at least be entertained.


7/10