Though positive and negative reviews are almost evenly divided, most of it suggested that the upcoming spy comedy movie starring Steve Carell still deliver several laughers on the way.
- Jun 18, 2008
AceShowbiz - In early June, a big fat panda has reached out to his dream of becoming a kung fu master and dominated the box office chart with the release of "Kung Fu Panda" in the theaters across the country. This coming Friday on June 20, a compulsively efficient analyst, Maxwell Smart, will also be living on his dream of being a secret agent for the spy company he works for in Warner Bros. Pictures' newest comedy movie "Get Smart". But, with another comedy film "The Love Guru" in hot pursuit to pose a tough challenge, can "Smart" rise to the occasion and win the box office battle like when Po beat Zohan from "You Don't Mess With the Zohan"?
Apparently, many of the movie critics believe so as they praise the Peter Segal-directed movie to be an entertaining comedy flick. Commenting on the movie adaptation to the hit 1960s spy parody television series of the same name, Village Voice's J. Hoberman simply called this movie as a pleasant surprise given that it is "more an all-purpose (and often quite funny) goofball action comedy". In similar tone, Jeff Otto of ReelzChannel.com saw it to be "breezy summer fun". In a more critical approval, Emanuel Levy from EmanuelLevy.Com lauded Steve Carell for his successful attempt in delivering the spy nerd and providing the goofy moments.
On the contrary to those positive feedbacks, some critics are not that impressed with this comedy movie. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter toned down the excitement stating that on the bottom line, the movie is "not nearly smart enough". Giving an equally harsh review, Variety's top critic John Anderson suggested that it is one of the comedy movies that is lost in translation. Additionally, Newsweek's David Ansen regretted the filmmakers' decision of making "Smart" smart because by doing that they missed the joke.
Despite the mixed feelings sent out by the reviewers, most of them seem to offer similar opinions about some matters in the movie. First, those who hailed and panned "Smart" agreed that its star, Carell, has done a good job in presenting viewers with the new Maxwell Smart making it a believable character. Then, they also noted that "Smart" will offer tickling moments, though the less enthusiastic critics said that the movie may merely deliver mild chuckles.
Telling the story of the clueless, bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart" follows the character as he goes forward with his first mission to thwart KAOS' plot of dominating the world. Though he dreams to be paired with CONTROL's star spy Agent 23, he has to settle with his partner, gorgeous but lethal Agent 99 and together with her, he embarks on an adventurous journey to finish his mission. Supporting Carell are Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, The Rock as Agent 23, Alan Arkin as the Chief of CONTROL and Terence Stamp as evil KAOS leader.
