Inspector Gadget

It may not be the worst crime a filmmaker can commit -- after all, he also brought us the 1991 Vanilla Ice epic Cool As Ice -- but director David Kellogg has done a bad, bad thing to Inspector Gadget. Remember, if you can, Gadget, the middle-aged, bumbling detective -- a children's cartoon version of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams voiced the cartoon Gadget) with a helicopter propeller attached to his head. Now forget that Gadget. Here, the inspector, played by Matthew Broderick at his most boyish and squeaky clean, may be bumbling, but he doesn't begin to parody the sleuth mold. Other than the Slinkys (one of the many now mandatory product placements) stitched inside of him as part of an experiment by scientist Brenda (Joely Fisher), Broderick's Gadget could be any Disney live-action hero. He's insecure, he's a dreamer, and gosh darn, with a little willpower, a little love, and a few blows to the bad guys' private regions, he can conquer his fears and save the day. Funny thing is, this Gadget's film-ending heroics deny the central, repetitive joke of the cartoon. Gadget never solved any case -- his niece, Penny, and dog, Brain, did. On the plus side, Rupert Everett is humorously over the top as the evil Claw. Still, don't "Go, Go Gadget."

-- Mark Bazer