The beginning 10 minutes or so of Get Smart are pretty unsatisfying, and I thought “here we go, another trailer that causes the dvd seems stronger than it is”. However it betters greatly after that point, primarily after the foremost face-off of Max with Agent 99
I’ve always thought Anne Hathaway to be one of the prettiest Hollywood actors and she did not break me here either. Steve Carell has superb comic timing, he may from time to time remind people of Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun and Spy Hard mode, but outside of that he manages to make Max a truly sympathetic and human character, not just a cartoon.
The relationship Max and 99 have formed at the finish of the dvd video appears to be set to a greater extent on friendship than anything else.
Max and Agent 99 have some strong fight scenes, choreographed by fight scene genius James Lew. For a finale of action they let in a dramatic and wild chase sequence as well. By an action viewpoint I could say it easily surpasses that of last Bond flicks, though the comedy doesn’t make it near as serious
You really have a vanilla Bond fashion plot. You have the good guys who are after the evil guys for doing bad things…such as killing the President.
Even after passing the field agent test Max is not granted to go outside in the field as his boss (Arkin) tells him that he is the strongest analyst they have and that he needs him to stay put. However Max is promoted to a field agent when the evil guys find out all of the names and locations of the live agents and start to kill them, with the help of agent 99 (Hathaway) and agent 23 (The Rock/Dwayne Johnson) Smart is sent to take out the bad guys.
In honesty I didn’t guess the film would be as serious as it was. Carell has tremendous comedic timing, but supplying some very cool Bond Q-gadgets and a bunch of action, it really does feel like a good action film. Also, the interpersonal chemistry with Hathaway and Carell was a ideal couple.
I really give this movie a thumbs up. Superb action, superb acting, and a great girl (Hathaway), Get Smart is a success. It takes a different twist to comedies that represent more serious dvd movies and did it well.
