A film review by Mark O'Hara Copyright © 1999 Mark O'Hara

"Inspector Gadget," directed by David Kellogg, is another live-action version of a Saturday morning cartoon, and indeed the places in which it is most successful are those that show cartoonish silliness.

Matthew Broderick plays the rather dull-witted police inspector dedicated to justice. His character, John Brown, is at first an ambitious security guard at a medical clinic. The clinic is run by Dr. Brenda Bradford (Joely Fisher), who has just about perfected a high-tech program in robotics. When an arch-criminal - Sanford Scolex, played by Rupert Everett -- kills Bradford's father and makes off with essential components of the "Gadget" program, the main plot devices are set in motion. Scolex lobs a dynamite cigar and blows Brown up, and himself loses a hand. Hence the nickname "Claw."

In an oblique nod to "Robocop," the damaged semi-officer is robotized, his head his only human part. Meanwhile, the slimy Claw has recruited Dr. Brenda Bradford, offering her unlimited funding and control. His plans are sinister, of course: he wishes to build robotic warriors to create invincible armies for the highest bidders. The rest of the story follows Claw's evil wanderings, including his manufacturing an evil twin for Inspector Gadget.

This double is the highlight of Broderick's performance. Rather ordinary in his title role, Broderick sets off the twin with a wise-cracking, teeth-clicking twist of attitude. It's unclear exactly why Claw has made the twin, except to clone the convention of smearing the good guy. Further, not enough is made of the wondrous Gadget, so his character seems underdeveloped in the public's eye; the real Gadget does not seem to suffer from the public's scorn. Clearly, the writers didn't think of everything.

On the other hand, Rupert Everett saves his character with exaggeration - laughs and scowls reminiscent of the best mad scientists. In this telescoped plot - the whole film under 80 minutes! - Claw's motivations are muddy, his background almost completely absent. But Everett makes his bad guy actually likable, a feat only good cartoons accomplish.

Joely Fisher as Brenda Bradford is passable. Too much emphasis is placed on her beauty, not enough on her intelligence. And I got the feeling that she found it difficult to make us believe a human could fall in love with her Frankenstein, although it is a fascinating possibility.

The self-relexive humor goes a long way toward making "Inspector Gadget" watchable. When the Gadgetmobile (a souped-up white Lincoln convertible voiced by D.L. Hughley) quips that this is "a Disney movie," we get a taste of wit that appears too sparsely in so many other parts. Mini-parodies of movies like last summer's flop "Godzilla" also kick the quality up to average.

What pulls it so far down, though? For one, editing done in a chop-shop. Many moments that we have seen in trailers for months either do not appear at all in the film, or surface at points that are at times awkward or even incoherent. I should add that a couple of thought-balloon sequences do succeed in offering tiny, cartoon-y flashbacks. But much of the exposition we need to comprehend the storyline is lost to the editor's hatchet. Another aspect that falls flat is the role of Gadget's niece Penny (Michelle Trachtenberg). The actress does a fine job; it's just that she is used for ridiculous purposes. Her pooch, the beagle Brain, has simply too little screen time to matter much.

Visual effects do a nice job in emulating the outrageous gadgets that spring out of the inspector's body. His arms and legs extend for yards, weapons shooting out of every portal, even his hat. There's a particularly neat scene in which a boy on the street asks for an autograph from the evil Gadget, and all kinds of evil-looking weapons pop out of the copy's arms, scaring the boy. Unfortunately, we were overexposed to this scene in the trailers.

To get a little more of your money's worth if you see this film in a theater, stay for the closing credits. Some of the best segments of your viewing will include Brain talking in the sharp voice of Don Adams (Gadget's voice in the creative cartoon), as well as one of Claw's henchmen in a Minion Support Group, characters like Richard Kiel's "Jaws" and an Odd-Job impersonator sitting among the listeners.

But I'd advise to skip paying today's big bucks for first-run admission in favor of second-run or video rental. Instead you might buy several Happy Meals, assemble an entire Gadget action figure, and act out more creative scenes on your own.

	Running Time: 80 Min | Rated PG | US Release: July 23rd | More >>

Related 'Inspector Gadget' Links:

• Official Site
• Star Seeker Movies: Inspector Gadget
• Upcomingmovies.com: Inspector Gadget

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