INSPECTOR GADGET

1999, Walt Disney Productions

Live action

Rating: PG

Approx. 77 mins.

THE STORY:

John Brown (Matthew Broderick) is a security guard with aspirations to become a police officer and truly help people. In an attempt to prove himself and to defend the secret love of his life, Brenda (Joely Fisher), he becomes the victim of a car crash and explosion. To save his life, Brenda, who is a robotic inventor, uses her highly developed robot technology to restore and enhance his physical abilities. Armed with a slew of built-in gadgets, John becomes the first trial robo cop in his town.

John/ Gadget's main mission is to stop the bad guy, Sanford Scolex (Rupert Everett), a charming and wealthy industrialist, who also happens to be a mad thief and murderer. The two do fierce battle, and ultimately Gadget comes out on top, winning the day and the girl.

QUESTIONABLE LANGUAGE: 

• Butt
• Oh my God
• Idiot
• Shut up

VIOLENCE:

• shooting, explosions, car crashes

TEACHING POINTS:

• You can reinvent yourself and emerge from tragedy

THE UPSHOT:

It's a goofy, happy movie with an affable hero who suffers hardships and then finds the strength to achieve vindication. It's a nice-guys-finish-first story and it has Ferris B...Matthew Broderick in it, which makes it all the more endearing.

There are a few laughs, some clever references and the performances are pretty solid. The main feature, however, is action. And lots of it. A bit too much for me (the whole dramatic conceit revolves around the hero ostensibly being killed in a car crash followed by the overkill of an explosion), though the 5 year old in the room never batted an eyelash.  

4/5