I don't normally do movie reviews, but there is a first time for everything. I recently saw Get Smart, the latest incarnation of a TV show that first aired about forty years ago. It was a good movie, but not a great one.
The actors used had the same names as the old TV show, but not all of them were the same characters. Of course the actors are allowed their own interpretations, but this Siegfried was a real bastard, and the original was good for some comic relief.
Steve Carell was good as Maxwell Smart but no one, and I mean no one could ever replace Barbara Feldon as Agent 99. Anne Hathaway is a different kind of 99; I don't remember Barbara Feldon ever doing a tae kwon do tornado kick.
Most of all, this movie was more a tribute to the original show than a stand-alone movie. There were so many references to the original that must have meant absolutely nothing to kids who never saw the TV show. There was some semblence of a plot and some action sequences, but most of all it is a chance to see Control battle KAOS again, even if times have changed.
Again, it's a good movie for those who like the show, but it really makes you appreciate how good the TV show was. The original was much funnier, back in a day when they could tell stories without using sex and graphic violence. A few years ago Time-Life issued the collection of all five seasons on DVD for $200. Much as I love the old show, I don't love it that much. So I kept looking for it on eBay, and waited and hoped something might happen after the new movie was released.
Sure enough, the first season is now available from Amazon (and everywhere else) for...would you believe...$20! It's available August 5 and I have already pre-ordered my copy. If you want to experience the genius of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, by all means try the original show.
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