Wonderful character development!

An Exercise In Nonsense

Absolutely brilliant

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Disney today has gone through multiple changes throughout its history. There's the classical period, the slump period, the renaissance period and the rise to super studio power in the late 2000s. However even during the 1990s when Disney was breaking records in its animated films, they also were breaking records in flops in another type of film. Those films were in live-action, many of which were derived from cartoons from decades before. For those cases, Disney had made some pretty bad films. Mr. Magoo (1997), George of the Jungle (1997) and Inspector Gadget (1999) being relatively the last bunch of theatrical releases to be made, for the most part signaled the end of such cartoon live-action adaptations. But even for Disney, nothing would stop the studio giant from making a little extra cash even after that. Some years later, Disney would release sequels to some of these movies and for the poorly adapted Inspector Gadget (1999), he too got his own. The question is, is it worth a watch?Ehhh,...in some respects yes because there seems to be improvement. Then again, there really was no need to begin with because a sequel will not make up for the mistakes of the first. With a script written by the director Alex Zamm (Chairman of the Board (1998), Tooth Fairy 2 (2012) and Jingle All the Way 2 (2014)) and two other writers, the adaptation part of the film is more faithful to that of the original cartoon. And for some viewers, that may be all they need because the entirety of the movie does feel more cartoonish than that of the first movie. When Dr. Claw (Tony Martin) escapes from prison, it's up to Inspector Gadget (French Stewart), his niece Penny (Caitlin Wachs) and newly activated member G2 (Elaine Hendrix) to bring the evil mastermind to justice. The idea is as routine as ever but it again sticks to the formula that made the cartoon what it was. Also what makes this film more faithful than the one before is that most of Dr. Claw's face is kept concealed from the audience. It was a big gripe people had with the 1999 film.As stated in the plot prior, much of the cast from the first film have been replaced or rewritten out. The only actor who didn't get replaced was D.L. Hughley as the Gadget Mobile; because people loved him the most? Also there's no mention of whatever happened to Joely Fisher's role as Brenda who played Gadget's love interest in the first movie. French Stuart as Gadget looks more like his cartoon counterpart than Matthew Broderick. Caitlin Wachs taking over Michelle Trachtenberg's role performed okay but nothing special. As for Claw, Tony Martin's portrayal Vs Rupert Everett is not hilariously funny but it's alright. Elaine Hendrix as G2 was okay even though her role was very contrived. It's pretty obvious what she serves as to Gadget. If there's one thing that stays true through this film is that almost every actor chews up the scenery around them. Almost every scene is super hammy. It's not bad occasionally or maybe for one character but even the less important characters are biting at the corners of every frame.With that being said, the comedy isn't that funny either. Thankfully, Disney toned down the inappropriate humor from the first film but didn't bother fix anything else. The one liners are formulaic and predictable but they do at least sound more believable being delivered from Stewart than Broderick. Dr. Claw also has a bunch of stock henchman that do act like the cartoon but here just feel silly. Of all things, why would Dr. Claw hire a single ninja? Also sometimes the dialog doesn't make a lot of sense due to certain characters having knowledge that goes unexplained. How would one specific character know how a mechanical device works if the villain didn't even give the obligatory exposition to them? The stretch of the imagination only goes so far. Seeing Dr. Claw make a weapon out of 3 or 4 non-connective items is one thing, but knowing how it works without even being told? Yeah,...not buying it.Even with this mediocre writing, there is still some visual integrity. The special effects to this entry are adequate for its budget even though they are not as polished as the first film. However considering it was 12 million Vs 75 million (estimated), that's not entirely bad. There are places where it's noticeably fake though. The cinematography shot by Geoffrey Wharton who is usually just a camera operator does okay here. There's no strange angles or up close facial zoom-ins so that's praiseworthy. Anything else though is just standard shooting. The musical score composed by Chris Hajian is okay too. Even though the sound is not as bombastic as John Debney's version of the first one, Hajian retains the Inspector Gadget theme and does what he can to make it sound acceptable for a DVD sequel. The overall product is still messy but some may like it more than the original film.Having its cast mainly replaced, the actors are a lot hammier, the comedy is still predictable and the effects do look somewhat cheaper. However some of the writing does follow the cartoon more this time than the first movie and although not everything makes sense it feels more like an extended cartoon episode. So that kind works in its favor.

The second installment of the Inspector Gadget film series is fairly comparable to the first movie. Although this movie is stupider the fact that they picked a better gadget this time round was an improvement. Unfortunately the problem is the movie is just so terrible so the "better" gadget does not save it.To be honest this movie is a watch once and slightly enjoy it but then you never need to watch it again. I do think Elaine Hendrix does a god job at portraying G2 though. She gives the movie a sense of sanity that stops the movie from being a complete joke. Don't bother if you have a short attention span.

Inspector Gadget is back, well, kind of. French Stewart takes over the title role from Matthew Broderick, who appeared in the original live action film. In the first film, our beloved G took down arch enemy The Claw so this movie opens with G on top of the world. As a result of him being praised and awarded by the city, G has become a bit smug and too sure of himself. Therefore, he is soon arresting the police chief's MOTHER for driving 26 mph in a 25 zone. The crime is drag racing. Needless to say, G gets a chewing out from the chief (Mark Mitchell), his supervisor. Its true, G's bright niece Penny keeps her uncle more grounded, for she loves to catch criminals, too. Now, more changes occur. First, there is a new crime fighter on the force, a robot, G2, (Elaine Hendrix), who has just been invented and will be more reliable than G, whose gadgets sometimes go haywire. Although she is a mechanical being, G finds her very pretty! Then, The Claw (Tony Martin, not Rupert Everett) returns with a surefire plan to raid the Federal Reserve. All of a sudden, G lassos the mayor (Sigrid Thornton) accidentally, making her so upset that she kicks G off the force. Needing a new job, G tries his hand at everything from burger flipping to valet parking. But, can G2 truly stop The Claw on her own? Well, she is supposed to be perfect! First, I have adored French Stewart from his days on Third Rock from the Sun. He is instinctively very funny, no matter what the role, and this is one is no exception. Hendrix makes a perfect counterpoint for him while Mitchell does well as the chief. How funny to see Thornton, long after her young role in The Man from Snowy River, she is still quite beautiful! Martin has a rough voice that is hard to decipher sometimes but he makes a good villain. He gets away in the end, setting up other possible sequels. Then, the production is gorgeous, inventive, colorful and fun. Lastly, there are laughs galore for every one. Therefore, inspect this film up close by showing it to yourself or your close friends and relatives soon.

French Stewart, we hardly knew ye. We hardly knew ye beyond the showe thou callest "Third Rock From The Sun". Because, let every viewer face it, it will be his only real success in his career. Everything else will pale in comparison.Stewart, as Gadget, was weak. He arrests an old granny for going .3 mph over the speed limit. Kind of stupid and not even funny. The set up was all wrong. Plus enter G2 (Gadget 2), who is modeled as a woman, and Gadget likes her. For some reason, dumb robots fall for one another.What is so screwed is is that the Claw from the first one is no longer there. So this feels like a cheap original and not a very cheap sequel. Nobody from the original is in the sequel. And that is sad.Overall, its worse than the first. Sometimes shows should just be kept as cartoon and not turned into real life versions. And Inspector Gadget is such an example. "F"