The reworking of Mel Brooks's iconic 1960s spy spoof movie is every bit as funny and clever as the original
(12A)
The spirit of comic genius Mel Brooks, who co-created the iconic 1960s spy spoof Get Smart, happily hangs over this very funny big-screen reworking that entertainingly updates the original.
Notes director Peter Segal: "We didn't want to recreate it but to contemporise it." He certainly succeeds, aided and abetted by Steve Carrell's sharp performance as espionage-analyst-turned-secret-agent Maxwell Smart, smart contributions from Anne Hathaway as his reluctant partner Agent 99 and scene-stealer Alan Arkin as Chief of the super-secret US spy agency Control.
Get Smart doesn't pretend to be anything more than sheer comic entertainment and as such it succeeds splendidly.