So I've talked about films based on DC characters and films that have had involvement from Nickelodeon Movies that have been considered by many to be the worst, so next, let's look at a series of films based on a single television show and the one I've picked, is one based on a lovable yet dimwitted police inspector who has an array of gadgets at his disposal, but always gets into trouble and always having to rely on what I think is his niece and his pet dog. Its not really a show that I remember well and in truth, there were many shows that I don't remember that well that I grew up watching and all the shows on my all time top 100 list are shows that I remember well. So it didn't really surprise me that a film would be in the works and I went to see it at the cinema and left sort of disappointed with what I saw. So let's take a look:
Inspector Gadget
So you can tell from this movie poster that this film is going to suck because those of you who watch the show, will know that the main antagonist Dr. Claw never shows his face so in theory, it should've stayed that way for the film. Unfortunately not, but don't worry, the list of bad things has only just begun. So after years of waiting, the titular character now has a name which is John Brown (played by Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick) and he is working as a security guard at a laboratory run by robotics scientist and his love interest Brenda Bradford (played by Joely Fisher) and her father in Ohio. Brown's dream is to become part of the police force and has support from his niece Penny (played by Michelle Trachtenberg). Brenda and her father manage to create a foot as part of their gadget program, but when a rich tycoon called Sanford Scolex (played by a very funny man, Rupert Everett) attacks the laboratory which in turn let's him steal the foot to replicate it and create an army of robots to conquer the world, Brown dies in the process only to then be resurrected through the power of gadgetry (gee this sounds familiar), joins the police force and becomes Inspector Gadget. For what its worth, I like that the film makers wanted to explore the origins of the characters which was never really explored much in the cartoon (from my point of view anyway), but that's the only praise I'm giving it. It feels like watching a family friendly version of RoboCop and while they got the titular character and Penny right, its Dr. Claw who suffers as we see his face when we don't in the cartoon and he sounds more goofy than dark and sinister. The Gadgetmobile is also annoying at times with him never shutting up, the transitions come at random and the whole thing is just awful. Its so bad that even the credits beg for us to watch them as its one of those credits that have things going on as they roll and it just keeps going. 3/10
Inspector Gadget 2
What was quite surprising is that despite the first film being bad, it managed to get a sequel, but unsurprisingly, was made a direct to DVD film meaning that only a handful of people like myself knew about it. So 4 years have gone by and now Inspector Gadget (now played by direct to DVD regular, French Stewart) has begun to get a series of glitches which in turn has him fail at being a actual police officer forcing the force to replace him with a newer model called G2 (played by Elaine Hendrix) who chooses to work alone as opposed to working alongside Gadget. Dr Claw (now played by Tony Martin) has escaped from prison and now armed with a new set of henchmen and a plan that's pretty much like any other typical villainous plan, its up to Gadget to stop him even if it costs his job. The sequel believe it or not, I feel is way better than its predecessor because it actually stays more true to the source material in regards to the goofiness and that Gadget has glitches which he had all the time in the show. But as a film, its average direct to DVD material. Can't say any more than that. 5/10
Now as we all know, there have been a lot of 60s-90s cartoons that have been adapted into films which for the most part, tend to do well at the box office (depending on the fanbase), but not so much with critics and think that's down to the film makers' vision of the project, the lack of research into the source material and on occasions, the lack of commitment from the cartoon creators and Inspector Gadget is one of those films. The first one wasn't great as it felt like seeing a family friendly version of RoboCop among other problems, whereas the sequel, while acted out like average direct to DVD films, stayed true to the source material. Its not the best films that I have personally seen, but in 2 weeks, you'll find out what the worst film I have ever seen is. Be prepared. 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment