''Get Smart''

Get Smart is a film about the story of Max Smart, and agent working for the crudely named 'Control' agency which work as a CIA type force protecting the world from terrorists and the like. The main force they face is an organisation named 'Kaos' who are plotting a terrorist attack. 

The film as the opening scenes suggest is a about an agent who doesn't really know what he's doing, this is supported when we find out that Smart is a desk agent who longs to be out in the field. Despite that he is incredibly good at research and gathering intelligence. I particularly like the opening scene of this film as it shows various shots of tasks being done in order to get ready for work. Close ups of writing, putting on shoes and straightening the tie give us an insight into who this person is. 

This isnt exactly a massively important part of the film but i like the shot sequence as it reminds me of the Requiem for a Dream sequence, but with less heroine. They also include a lot of James Bond esque imagery as the film loosely bases it self around a similar set up. The Over the top number of heavy duty metal doors to get into Controls headquarters is an example of this as well as having two obvious 'geeks' who give Max gadgets loosely resemble Q in that respect.

Over the top Metal doors

As soon as Max enters the main room we are introduced to some characters which further support are guess that this is a very lighthearted agent movie and this is shown by the actors who play some of the more minor characters. Terry Crews and David Koechner play two other agents in the organisation respectively. These two are actual agents and not desk jockeys, and we begin to see immediately that their is a division between the desk workers and the agents. 

Desk Agents - Smart & Good with Computers. Rubbish at fighting 

Field Agents - Good with Weapons and fighting. Generally more stupid

These two stereotypes are what Control is based on as both need each other but don't realise it till near the end. Which is a bit of a cliche i must say but i took it with a pinch of salt as the film is abusing these stereotypes for comedic effect. 

As well as enforcing stereotypes they also take the piss out of the technology employed in James Bond. The two engineers/geeks give Smart a swiss army knife. At first we think ''Thats a bit rubbish'' but after they explain the attachments on to the knife we see the James Bond esque again because he has a crossbow and a flamethrower on his penknife. They also create the Cone of Silence which is supposed to stop people you don't want to hear listening. However it stops everyone hearing you making it a really terrible device.

Flamethrower... on a penknife ? Silly but awesome.

and a crossbow. thats just awesome.

You see in the above images the gadgets i was talking about. The below picture is from a scene where Max and his new partner Agent 99 (Ann Hathaway) are travelling to Russia to gather information. He gets arrested because the passengers overreact to him having gum on his shoe. This incident about the 'gun' on his show annoyed me as the whole oversensitive facade about terrorism in films has been done too many times. The 'gun' on his shoe annoys me especially as he clearly said gum, he has gum on his shoe and before any questions are asked he is taken down forcefully. Now, i know this is supposed to be a comedy and stuff like that happens in comedies but if they're going to exploit the oversensitivity to terrorism nowadays they should find a better way to do it. 

         Max proves to us once again that he is useless by trying to use a crossbow to cut the cable ties around his wrists. He fails sensationally by impaling himself with several crossbow bolts. Now this is the kind of thing that would usually annoy me but I get that the whole point of this is for comedic effect and using his common sense would be less funny.

Pig in a barn

assailant falls through roof and floor

shot of our heroes flying overhead

A favourite shot of mine in the film. Max 99 and their assailant are falling from a plane in a tangled freefall and 99 kisses the assialant to make him let go. the assailant falls through thr air, through the barn roof and makes a massive hole in the floor taking the pig with it. The camera pans up through the hole as we see out heroes fly overhead. I liked this because it was really quick, succinct and ends the scene nicely. 

Poor Eavesdropping Skills

Another 'James Bond Fail' eavesdropping whilst peeing. He pretends really obviously that he doesn't speak russian and eavesdrops on their conversation. Each time he looks away he stops peeing which attracts the thugs attention. This is actually pretty funny but its more the expression on Max's face that makes this scene funny. 

Despite this film being a an essential pisstake of every james bond film ever made i enjoyed it quite a bit. The slapstick moments and james bond fails make for a very entertaining film. The acting from the supporting cast is very good as most of the actors have a reputation for being in some pretty high profile  films such as Terry Crews being in 'The Longest Yard' and David Koechner in 'Anchorman'. Ann Hathaway was alright, she did the job but wasnt anything to scream about. Steve Carell continues to impress as he fills the shoes of any role and makes it his own. He has this talent of being able to bring so many similar qualities to his roles but avoids becoming type cast because of them. My final verdict is:

7/10

Worth a watch to see Steve Carell in his element but the story line could have been less cliche.