Plot: What’s it about?
Thanks to the incredible efforts of Inspector Gadget (French Stewart), the town of Riverton has become the safest place in the world. The citizens can live without fear, as the criminals have all been brought to justice, decided to end their crooked ways, or left town to seek a new home for their illegal antics. After the arrest of the nefarious Dr. Claw (Tony Martin), Riverton has been quiet and serene, with no real crimes to mention. Even so, Gadget has managed to get into trouble with Chief Quimby (Mark Mitchell) on a regular basis and of course, Quimby is fed up with Gadget’s constant mistakes. As crime has ended in Riverton, Gadget has become bored and looks for even the smallest infractions, including one old woman’s speeding. When she is clocked at three-tenths of a mile per hour over the limit, the woman is pulled over by Gadget, handcuffed, and taken downtown, where it is discovered that she’s Quimby’s own mother. While Gadget struggles with glitches in his gadgets, he is assured steps are being taken to prevent future mistakes. As it turns out however, these changes won’t help him, instead they have created G2, the next step in crimefighting. A female robot with enhanced gadgets and skills, G2 is pushed out sooner than expected, thanks to Dr. Claw’s escape from prison. Even though he is taken off the case, can Gadget stay away and if not, can he and G2 work together to stop Dr. Claw?
As the original was a fun movie with some nice visuals, I had hoped this sequel could live up those rather unremarkable standards. But this seems to have been a rushed project, as it comes off like a made for television movie, a lower scale version of the original. All of the major characters have been recast, with French Stewart taking over the title role for Matthew Broderick, which was the central mistake made here. Stewart is passable, but Broderick was a lot of fun to watch and as such, steps should been taken to ensure his return. We also have new actors for Penny, Dr. Claw, and Chief Quimby, which spaces this movie even further from the original, but the absence of Broderick is the main issue. Even so, this proves to be a decent movie for fans of the character, as more gadgets and more laughs are present. The writing isn’t great, but it is solid at times and seems in line with the usual Gadget adventures. You can tell less money was available however, as the special effects are often laughable, including some very hokey CGI visuals, though to be honest, those flaws make the movie seem more cartoonish. As far as the disc, Disney has issued a very fine presentation, complete with a slew of extras. So if you’re into the series or liked the original movie, then I’d recommend this release as a rental.
A new actor has taken over the title role here, as French Stewart dons the famous grey suit this time around. He replaces Matthew Broderick, who was the natural choice for the role and is missed in this sequel. Broderick had the look for the part and also had a good comic sense, so he could make most of the material work. I think Stewart gives us a passable performance, but Broderick could have done much better here. Stewart has some good comedic skills also, but he seems geared more toward a certain kind of project. In this case, he looks funny and handles the physical aspects of the role, but falls flat in terms of dialogue. It seems as if he overworked himself to prepare, as his vocals often seem forced. So when he stutters or mixes up words, it should sound natural, but instead it seems too rehearsed. As a result, much of the humor is lost in those scenes and that’s bad news. Still, he handles most of the other sequences well and while he isn’t Broderick, he isn’t too bad in the end. Other films with Stewart include Love Stinks, Leaving Las Vegas, Broken Arrow, Glory Daze, Clockstoppers, Stargate, and McHale’s Navy. The cast also includes Elaine Hendrix (The Parent Trap, Superstar), Tony Martin (The Interview, The Big House), and Caitlin Wachs (My Dog Skip, Thirteen Days).
Video: How does it look?
Inspector Gadget is presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen. I’m glad to see Disney release this in widescreen, given that some family films are hacked into formatted presentations, but not this time around. The image here is terrific, which is to be expected, given Disney’s typical great work on new releases. The print here is very clean, so minimal grain, debris, and marks muck up the visuals and that’s expected, since this one moved right onto home video. The film’s vivid color scheme is in full bloom, so all the blues, greens, pinks, and reds are in excellent form, not to mention the other hues you’ll see. I also saw no troubles with black levels here, as contrast is as smooth as you could want and detail is high throughout. This is a superb overall visual presentation, so let’s hope Disney’s future family aimed titles are treated this well.
Audio: How does it sound?
I had hoped to find a DTS option here, since numerous Disney titles of late have had one, but in this case, only a Dolby Digital 5.1 track has been included. Even so, the audio here is terrific and provides a fun, offbeat experience. As you can imagine, the various gadgets cause all kinds of humorous sounds and that allows for some creative tinkering. So the assorted gadgets all sound great here, with some even moving into the surrounds and showing some nice presence, so this is no weak audio treatment. The music is also quite lively, while dialogue never misses a beat and sounds superb. This disc also includes a French language track, as well as subtitles in English and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
A pair of audio commentaries are included, each of which includes the presence of director Alex Zamm. The first track is with Zamm alone, in which he touches upon how the project came to be, the eventual casting choices, and various trials & tribulations that were present during the production. Zamm sits with stars French Stewart and Elaine Hendrix in the second track, which is a humorous one, but lacks substantial insight into the production. Next up is a selection of deleted scenes, where you can view a dozen excised sequences, then skip over to the outtakes, loaded with humorous bloopers. This disc also includes an illustrated guide to some of the gadgets, an interactive training simulator, a brief behind the scenes featurette, a Rose Falcon music video, and a storyboard-to-film comparison.
