The film doesn't have the sharp hysteria of the series, and it gets a bit over-serious at times. But it's still a thoroughly entertaining film with terrific characters all its own.
Comment
08/22/08
Get Smart (2008)
53
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:201
Fresh:106
Rotten:95
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Get Smart rides Steve Carell's considerable charm for a few laughs, but in the end is a rather ordinary Summer comedy.
Theatrical Release:22-08-2008
Synopsis: Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS. When the headquarters of U.S. spy agency Control is attacked... [More]
Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin
Director: Peter Segal
Reviews for Get Smart
We sit back and wait for the laughs. Which come pretty slow and infrequent, though Carell does his straight-faced best to act out the A-Z of Hilarious.
08/22/08
The film is about as funny as a 3am cold call, and if you are a critic you cannot slam down the phone before you have heard it out.
08/22/08
Get Smart won’t change the world but it is the most fun movie out this weekend.
08/22/08
The picture works best as a comedy, and early on it's consistently amusing, with a refreshingly witty script and skilful actors in Carell, Arkin and, more surprisingly, Johnson, to put across the verbal and sight gags with brio.
08/22/08
Adequate and fun but really nothing special.
08/22/08
Stunts, gadgets and Bill Murray in a tree: Get Smart hurls everything at the screen in the hope it’ll stick. Shame all the money went on the dopey action finale instead of some halfway witty gags and a decent script.
08/22/08
Yet while it’s as novel as a second-hand ejector seat and hits the groin more often than the funnybone, Get Smart still registers enough clicks on the giggle counter to make its mission passable.
08/22/08
Steve Carell is reliably funny as an accident-prone special agent in Get Smart, but he's funny on his own here - without a good script or a zingy supporting cast to help him along.
08/22/08
Top CriticThis is a spy comedy which seems entirely unaware of the new genre of Jack Bauer or Jason Bourne, and instead looks more like a Roger Moore-era 007 knockoff.
08/22/08
Top CriticPeter Segal’s film is only occasionally funny.
08/22/08
From this distance it looks like a rejected chapter from the Naked Gun franchise, and infinitely more wooden.
08/22/08
Top CriticIf you really want to get smart, you'll avoid this tiresome time-waster like the proverbial plague.
08/22/08
Top CriticOverall this is a limp parade of recycled gags and gadgets: an action movie with no surprises and a comedy with nothing like enough laughs.
08/22/08
Top CriticDespite a plot that should be simpler, Get Smart is as big on action as it is on laughs and works because it's less a tired spoof and more a quality comedic adventure movie in its own right.
08/22/08
Top CriticHiring 50-year-old Madonna to sing out Get Smart's end credits is a nice touch - given the film is one long joke almost as old as the Queen of Pop herself.
08/21/08
Entertaining, smartly acted spy comedy that delivers thrills and laughs in equal measure, while throwing in enough material to keep fans of the TV series happy.
08/21/08
Offering a little bit of everything but not quite enough of any one thing, Get Smart is a likable jumble of genres that would have benefited from being less ambitious.
07/23/08
The hostile repartee between the characters is as ungainly as director Peter Segal's lumbering action sequences
08/26/09
It has at least five undeniable laughs.
04/17/09
Latest News for Get Smart
January 07, 2009:
People's Choice Awards Winners Announced
The 35th annual People's Choice Awards were handed out on January 7, 2009. A complete list of film nominees, with winners in bold, follows below. More...
November 21, 2008:
Segal to Helm Captain Marvel, Get Smart 2 for Warners 
In a move that will see him directing both "Captain Marvel" and a "Get Smart" sequel for the studio, Peter Segal has signed a three-year first-look deal with Warner Bros. More...
November 03, 2008:
RT on DVD: Get Smart, Futurama: Bender's Game and the Obama DVD Controversy
This week, pick up Steve Carell's sweetly bumbling spy antics (Get Smart), the promising new Futurama movie (Bender's Game), a few early holiday treats (Shrek the Halls, A... More...
October 31, 2008:
This retro-espionage spoof is more giggles than satirical grit, and simply lacks the comic punch and charisma, along with the pungent Cold War flavor of the times that energized the original.
More...
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