Inspector Gadget

Inspector Gadget is yet another motion picture recycled from an old television cartoon series. Lucky me, I got to see it crammed into a corner seat in the top row of the theater, surrounded by a throng of preadolescents and their unfortunate parents.

The movie is a live-action version that’s big on special effects and stunts. The story, however, is rather dull and uninspiring. Add to that the seemingly endless list of on-camera product placements, and parents will be collectively saying to themselves, "I should have rented a video."

Matthew Broderick plays three roles. He starts out as security guard John Brown, who is nearly killed chasing Sanford Scolex (Rupert Everett) after the villain steals some technology. Brown’s boss, a scientist named Brenda Bradford (Joely Fisher), saves his life by implanting all these robotic gizmos into his body.

Now known as Inspector Gadget, Brown becomes a fedora-wearing version of "Robocop." When he says "go-go gadget," some doo-hickey pops out. The top of his finger opens up so he can pick a lock. His thumb becomes a cigar lighter.

Inspector Gadget’s car is the talking Gadgetmobile, with an array of push buttons for soft drink beverages, hamburgers, and candy on the dashboard. Holy product placements, Batman! Can you say McDonalds?

Meanwhile, Scolex replaces his missing arm with a claw and adopts the moniker, "Claw." For reasons never made clear to me, he is determined to steal all of the robotic technology. To get back at Inspector Gadget, he unleashes an evil clone with oversized false teeth named RoboGadget on the city.

The movie wheezes in at just 80 minutes, though it seems longer. No one asked me, but I would have suggested having Inspector Gadget walk through the metal detector at the airport or walking by one of those giant magnets they use at the junkyard. Now that would have been funny.