Male, British, ex-RAF. Is anyone else experiencing REALLY bad lag in the review text box at the mome...
Male, British, ex-RAF. Is anyone else experiencing REALLY bad lag in the review text box at the moment? Its so bad I have stopped writing & editing reviews completely. Can't Ciao fix this?
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Based on the popular 80's cartoon made by French company DIC we present the live action version of Inspector Gadget with his nemesis Dr Claw, his niece Penny and her dog Brain as well as his poor boss The Chief. All the standard characters lifted from the cartoon and placed into a movie wiht not much thought and very little plot sadly.
The "dream" start lets you know what your in for & seeing a pigtailed Michelle Trachtenberg lets you know we're staying in the teen demographic. Right, firstly. Claw's hand is not anywhere near where the bowling ball lands so it clearly is seen to be behind the bowling ball that "crushes" it. The "goof" that Gadget is covered in wires when he leaves the operating room. He'd just fired a rocket from his foot and it shot all over the room, that's why he's covered in wires.
The little CGI inserts between scenes makes me get the feeling they couldn't write a script long enough to make a full motion picture. I really didn't like the fact that the car knew it was "A Disney movie". Broderick really doesn't make as good a Gadget as the cartoon used to be. And if he just started in the police force it's unlikely he's going to have been given the rank of Inspector already, is it? It's a rank that takes at least a decade to reach.
Rupert Everett as Dr Claw (Or just plain Claw as he wants to be known), is just to pretty to be a bad guy. And please? STOP typecasting British people as bad guys in movies. The whole "Law enforcement professional hurt in the line of duty and rebuilt as a cybernetic better individual" has been totally done to death starting with stuff like Joe 90, The 6 Million Dollar Man and Robocop.
This film is weak with no plot. Dabney Coleman is mildly bearable, Broderick should hang his head in shame after roles in such good films as Wargames (also with Dabney Coleman, oddly enough), Project X and Godzilla. Joely Fisher is pretty but when they said her name I thought they meant the even prettier Joely Richardson and she's certainly not her. I don't really know her from any TV or other films to be honest either so I have nothing to compare this performance to.
The RoboGadget character is excellent, Broderick plays him very well. The Robot Brenda somehow managed to be prettier than the real Joely Fisher. Her outfit, hair and makeup help a lot there. Now, there was no real reason to have to implant John Brown with the Gadget technology. None of the injuries he'd suffered were things he wasn't going to recover from. The scenes of the towns people running from Inspector Gadgets shadow dinosaur and the dinosaur rampage shots were nice touches and gags at Brodericks own expense from Godzilla which show him to have a great sense of humour or he's a really good sport.
I do wonder why he didn't deploy the very useful roller blades when being dragged by Claw's car? Also, when him and Brenda are falling he calls to deploy his parachute (quite loud and clear) but it doesn't work until he's in the water. As usual and just like the cartoon, Penny and Brain solve the case with the help of the Gadgetmobile. But Claw doesn't do the proper voice for his "next time, Gadget" speech.
Weak ending for The Inspector and Brenda because you know he was going to get the girl. Robo Brenda wasn't destroyed by falling off the huge building? I do like the room full of minions, Penny is actually wearing the watch she normally wears in the cartoon. The voice of Brain is the voice from the cartoon. And no-one captured the RoboGadget body?
(this review also appears on dooyoo)
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seems long even at 80 minutes. As a video, it's easier to take and appreciate for what works best in the story: the special effects. Matthew Broderick plays the secu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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![Inspector Gadget [DVD] [1999]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78522034.jpg "Inspector Gadget [DVD] [1999]")
Mar 17th, 2009
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