Pleasantly surprised. More good laughs than anticipated. No one will ever be able to reprise Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, but the slapstick worked well in this.

I went to Get Smart expection a comedy-action film; what I got was an action-comedy. The decision to focus more on action was probably a good one, considering making a nearly two-hour version of the tv show would probably have been overlong and hard to watch. But, as good as they were, I would have liked less fight scenes and more pratfalls.

It’s not really the actors’ fault. Steve Carrell was good, naturally: I can’t think of anyone else working today who could pull of Maxwell Smart. And the supporting cast was good: I would watch Dwayne Johnson in almost anything, and Anne Hathaway was a smart, funny, and capable Agent 99. But I still left the theater only barely entertained. It had a lot of good moments, but the pieces just didn’t fall together to make a decent whole. So Get Smart gets a good review from me, but just barely.

I vaguely remember catching an episode or two of the original (repeats!) when I was much younger, but mostly I went into this blind. It takes a while to get going, but overall it’s fairly fun. Steve Carrel does very well leading the whole piece, being less idiotic and annoying than I expected – he’s actually a smart guy (the character) to whom unfortunate things tend to happen, rather than being a complete bumbling idiot. Well, mostly! ;)

There were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, a few too many crass jokes (peeing jokes don’t appeal to me!), but on balance it was an enjoyable diversion.

This movie had some very funny moments, but there were lots of moments that were just too crud and not at all funny, too.

and rightfully so. Very funny. Not a slapstick rolling funny as the show, but plenty whitty. And a bit smarter I think. Go see this summer fun movie. 4 of 5 stars.

I don’t really remember when I first saw the “Get Smart” tv show and the catchphrases and style of the show was part of my pop culture awareness for as long as I can remember. With an adaptation of a 60s tv show it can strictly follow the template of the original or update things or go for camp. With the new Get Smart they rather surpringly manage to capture the spirit of the original while allowing the cast to bring something new to the characters. Steve Carrel works wonderfully as Maxwell Smart and doesn’t imitate Don Adams’ Smart, but manages to capture more of the attitude of his character, in a similar way to Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There. Carrel somehow manages to walk in a distinctive way that is perfect for the character. The film has a few clever nods to the original, but it wisely avoids becoming something exclusively for fans. It’s very funny and my son (who didn’t know about the original series) and I laughed a lot. It was a pleasant surprise and a very fun summer movie.