Inspector Gadget (1999)

Plot: A security guard (Broderick) is blown up while pursuing the evil criminal genius Dr. Claw (Everett). He is put back together again by a beautiful surgeon (Fisher). But part of his reconstruction was the addition of super-high-tech gadgets. The movie is based on the cartoon series that ran back in the 80s. Inspector Gadget is a bumbling detective who solves crimes by accident. His niece Penny and her dog Brain do most of the actual detective work.

News:

22 July, 1999
Another tortured soul has chimed in with an opinion of this movie. I didn't choose the term 'tortured soul' by accident. Sit back and relive the horror with 'Dell' but be warned there are spoilers.

I went in to this screening thinking it would be cool to see Inspector Gadget as a real person on the big screen. It never really occurred to me that they might have totally botched the movie. That's exactly what happened. The only connection between this movie and the original cartoon is that it's about a guy with gadgets in his body. Oh yeah and the names are the same. The plot (what plot?) was just an excuse for things to happen. I felt like there really wasn't any script but Disney just said make a movie about Gadget and show how he was made. After that they just started filming stuff, threw in the digital effects and called it a movie.

Maybe I'm exagerating a touch there but it seemed really disjointed. Maybe it was just badly edited.

It would have been better if they had skipped the whole setup. Claw tries to steal some secrets for the gadget stuff. Security guard tries to stop him. Claw blows up security guard. Claw gets hand crushed by bowling ball. Guard gets turned into Gadget and has to be trained. Claw makes evil Gadget to discredit real Gadget. Why? They just made Gadget, no one knows who he is yet. Then again, why did Claw need to actually have a claw? Why was he shown at all? Why is Andy Dick allowed to act? What idiot designed the Gadget mobile? My brain's starting to hurt I've got to stop.

19 July, 1999
Here is a test screening review of Inspector Gadget. It's pretty negative and be warned, it does contain spoilers. Without further ado, here is 'Steve' and his review.

Would somebody please stop Disney from making anymore big screen adaptations of old TV shows. I thought My Favorite Martian was bad, but this was far far worse. I have always had a soft spot for Inspector Gadget. I will still occasionally watch an episode on Nick. It would appear that the folks at Disney never bothered to watch the show. Instead someone described it to them, poorly, and they used that to make a movie.

This is obvious from the way they handle Claw. In the series, all you ever saw of him was his hand at he growled out commands and threats to underlings. In the movie we get Rupert "Over acting is fun" Everett. He is not only shown, but shows up a lot with plenty of backstory relating to his and Gadget's creation. In fact he has a claw, thanks to an accident that costs him a hand and changes security guard John Brown into Inspector Gadget.

Matthew Broderick does his usual shtick and it just isn't right for the part. It's not that his acting isn't any good, he's just wrong for the part. The character has been made too self aware. Gadget should be a naive bumbler, who succeeds in spite of himself. The parts of Penny and Brain are changed from the real intelligence behind Gadget, to very minor characters. The Gadgetmobile goes from a what looked like a Nissan 300ZX to a 60s convertible complete with wise cracking voice and product endorsement in the form of buttons for Coke, Sprite, M&M's and so on.

The movie doesn't make huge amount of sense at times either. It jumps about as if whole scenes had been cut out. It just doesn't flow well. The worst part is the evil Gadget created by Claw. Simply put, this movie is a mess. It stains my pleasant memories of the series. Hopefully I can forget about it.

In case you have any interest left in the movie after that review, check out these pictures. Thanks to 'Tim.'

1 July, 1999
Word is that this movie has been edited down to a mere 81 minute running time. Apparently test screenings have returned unfavorable impressions, so Disney is simply cutting out the parts people didn't like, leaving a really quick movie behind. One of the editors has even left the project last month. Disney won't comment, saying that there is no final running time.

9 June, 1999
On your left you can see a bigger and better copy of the movie poster than the one I posted last week. That one required a lot image editing on my part to make look respectable. This one on the other hand is big and very clear. Click on the image to see the full size version (it's big, about 41kb).

6/3/99
Here we have the official poster for Inspector Gadget. As always, click on the image to see a larger version. Thanks to The Movie Page.

5/24/99
AICN received a scathing review of a test screening of this movie. I mean brutal. It's just a test screening, so the film can still change from its present form, but a review this vicious makes you wonder if there is any chance of fixing it. Check it out if you dare.

4/6/99
A new full trailer is out for Disney's big screen adaptation of the cartoon. 6.7MB MOV Lo-Res, 12.2MB MOV Med-Res, 24.0MB MOV Hi-Res.

4/5/99

Cinescape has posted a script review of Inspector Gadget. In short they said it was predictable and extremely unoriginal. The character of Gadget doesn't sound the same as the cartoon. He's naive but not exactling a bumbling fool. They even call him horny. The characters of Penny and Brain are pushed off to the side and barely used. In the cartoon they are the real brains that solve crimes. Gadget just sort of stumbles his way through, eventually getting credit for solving the mystery, which always comes as a surprise to him. Check out the script review for more details. This is really beginning to look like a major disaster.

3/25/99
Movie Salvage got a review from a test screening. This is not kind. This guy hated it. Click here to experience the horror.

3/24/99
Movie Salvage received this description of the movie from a test screening ad:

"The fun and adventure kicks off when an unsuspecting security guard (played by Matthew Broderick) is blown up by the evil Claw (played by Rupert Everett). The unfortunate guard is pieced back together by the brilliant and lovely scientist Brenda Bradford (played by Joely Fisher), who adds a bunch of amazing gadgets to the guard's reassembled body. He now becomes Inspector Gadget - a super crime-fighter armed with incredible abilities and even more impressive accessories. In his mission to bust the bad guys, Gadget must once again face the evil Claw, and stop his demented scheme to take over the world!"

This description worries me. Inspector Gadget should be a bumbling detective who solves criimes mostly by accident. This description makes him sound competent, which would gut the whole concept. Is it any wonder I'm tracking this movie?

3/8/99
Really minor news, but a quick trip to Disney's site for the movie reveals little other than theme music. Yes visitors are treated to a midi version of the Gadget theme music, which is largely unchanged from the original show. This was my favorite part of the show, so I had to mention it.

3/1/99
More pictures from Disney's live action recreation of Inspector Gadget. These are shots of the Gadgetmobile. I have to say I'm pretty disappointed at the design. It doesn't look anything like the Gadgetmobile in the cartoon. Apart from the interior it's pretty uninteresting. Well what did I expect? That this might actually be good? I've got to stop drinking... By the way, get ready for Disney's usual onslaught of marketing and product tie-ins. There appear to be prominent buttons on the dash for McDonald's and Sprite among others. Thanks to Upcomingmovies.com for the pics.

2/18/99
Here we have a couple of shots from the upcoming live action version of the children's cartoon. I could make some disgusting comment about the second one, but I'm not going to sink to that level. I'll let you readers make your own comments. Thanks to Dark Horizons.

10/6/98

Here we have an on set report from AICN.

Inspector Gadget is continuing filiming in downtown Pittsburgh outside the PPG building all this weekend. The Filiming started yesterday and from what I saw, I CAN"T WAIT TO SEE THE MOVIE. First off I was walking by some of the trailers they had parked on the street and I looked in the one and there was a Gadget Hat with a Pink and a Blue spring comming out of it. (Go go gadget springs??) Also. I was walking through the court yard at the PPG Building and they had two people straped into a harness that they were swing around the statue that they erected( you have pics of that in a past Inspector gadget article) The one cool thing aobut the people they were swinging around is. One of them (who may or may not have been a stunt double... its hard to see under that damn hat) was Inspector Gadget and he was wearing the GO GO GADGET UMBRELLA HAT!!!!!!!!! Now... I grew up watching Inspector Gadget as a Kid and also seing Get Smart reruns on Nick at Nite. And I loved em. Im really looking forward to a goofy secret agent movie. -Ravskel

9/11/98
Some info on the details of Penny, Brain, and Dr. Claw. Thanks to AICN.

Rest easy, Penny and Brain are both in the movie. Penny is being played by Michelle Trachtenburg, who is best known as Harriet the Spy. She is Gadget's niece in the film. Yes, she helps him solve the case. Brain is being played by 3 beagles. His role is somewhat diminished because he isn't going to be CGI enhanced into a Scooby-esque clone. He's just a smart, but real, little hound.

Contrary to some earlier reports, CLAW is being played by Rupert Everett (MY BEST FRIENDS WEDDING), not Hank Azaria (Hank was considered as a Gadget possibility early on). Although he is hidden in shadow early in the film, you WILL see his face.

The essence of Gadget is contained in Matthew Broderick's version of the character, however, he is most certainly NOT doing a Don Adams impersonation. That was what always bugged me the most about the cartoons-- the character was so derivative. Matthew has kept the naiviety and the inability to see the clue in front of his face, but has given the character much more texture and nuance-- a fully rounded character as opposed to a "cartoon." Although the characters are very different, you could say that Matthew is to Gadget as Brendan Fraser was to George of the Jungle-- the spirit has remained intact, but the actor has brought himself into the character and made it his own.

Lastly, Pittsburgh is playing the mythical city of Riverton, where Gadget lives and works. For those of you familiar with the city, the 6th Street bridge is where the climax of the film takes place (sorry, I'm not going to spoil the end and give details), car chase and general car scenes will be shot all over the city, a scene will be shot at that park that juts out into the river across from the stadium (I think it's called Point Park, but I can't be sure) and the Pacific Plate and Glass building will also play a huge role. More to come. Dirk

7/22/98

Click here for a script review of Inspector Gadget.

5/21/98 Some early production photos of Inspector Gadget.