Get Smart (2008) is not a life-changing experience, but it is probably the funniest movie you’ll see this year. Instead of foolishly imitating the original 1960s Get Smart television series, this Get Smart keeps the wry flavour of the series and modernizes it. Instead of being a bumbling idiot who accidentally succeeds, this Maxwell Smart (Steve Carroll) actually has some abilities as an Agent but he is inexperienced and makes mistakes. Similarly, his sidekick, the alluring Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), now steps forward to become the agent with the experience and the vulnerability. Also, the action becomes more prominent, with serious fight scenes worthy of Jason Bourne in the lobby of that bank in The Bourne Identity, and chase-and-crash scenes far more professional that the cruiser pile up in The Blues Brothers. Unlike the original series, these action scenes are done seriously—usually with a punch line at the end. As director Peter Segal explained, instead of a fight scene having the rhythm “smack, smack, pow,” it has the same rhythm but “smack, smack, joke.”
The advantage of playing some scenes seriously is that the actors get to relate to each other, and play off each other, as well-rounded characters instead of as two-dimensional comedic types. Here’s just one small example. When Smart and Agent 99 blow up the bakery/nuclear factory, the bad guy’s giant henchman corners them on a roof with electrical shorts sparking and debris flying everywhere. Physically defeated and facing death, Smart tries psychology by trying to establish a human contact with the giant. Smart’s massive knowledge from the dossier he compiled seems of no use in proving that “I know you” until he says he knows the giant’s marriage is in trouble and his wife’s sister is driving a wedge between them. The giant approaches as if to crush him, gives him a hug, and sobs, “Her sister’s such a bitch.” This scene is not just a set piece but resonates throughout the movie. So at the end, when the evil mastermind has eluded Smart and Agent 99 and insults the giant’s wife, we’re prepared for how the villain meets his end.
The humour is not mono-dimensional. Early on, there is a classic slapstick scene of Smart trying to use his turbo-charged Swiss army knife—specifically the cross bow component—to shoot off his plastic handcuffs in an airplane toilet. Later, there are snide asides about the current bungling President. Then there’s gags difficult to classify—for example, wishing to go “below the radar” in Russia, Smart and Agent 99 ditch their little scooter and look for alternate transportation in a Russian village. Lada? Tractor? Then Smart looks in an old garage and Agent 99 says, No! And we see them roaring down the two-lane highway in a Ferrari. Smart justifies: In the new Russia everyone has one of these. A peasant working in the field says, “A Ferrari!” and snaps a picture with her cell phone.