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Inspector Gadget 2
Studio: Walt Disney
Year: 2003
Rated: G
Film Length: 88 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.66:1)
Subtitles: English
Inspect the unexpected.
It's sort of odd that Disney chose to make a sequel
out of their original (and rather lame) live-action film,
Inspector Gadget. It was one of those comic
book to movie films that had absolutely no appeal
whatsoever to the audience of kids it was aimed at.
In fact, the best that could be said about this
piece of drivel is that it starred Matthew Broderick.
Despite bad reviews, the original Inspector
Gadget managed to gross nearly $100 million at
the box office. What that unfortunately means is
that sooner or later a sequel is inevitable -- and
wouldn't you know it -- four years later Inspector
Gadget 2 gets a direct-to-DVD release. Not too
odd after all, I suppose.
This time around the Inspector is played by French
Stewart who was extremely funny on 3rd Rock from
the Sun, but whose same smug style is about as
annoying here as nails across a blackboard. Once
again we return to Riverton, "The Safest City in
America", where things have settled down quite a
bit since all the crooks have been put behind bars.
This leaves Gadget, his canine companion Brian and
his trusty Gadgetmobile with nothing to do.
Little does he know that Riverton's most feared
villain, CLAW (Tony Martin) has just made an escape
from prison and is set on putting together a secret
weapon that he is ready to turn against innocent
citizens. But what is prototype Inspector Gadget
to do when all his functions are full of glitches?!
Soon enough, Gadget finds himself taking a back seat
to Riverton's newest crime-stopping robot, G2 (Elaine
Hendrix), who is given the CLAW case. Gadget's niece
Penny (Caitlin Wachs) vows to help her Uncle in
any way she can, and together they all turn their
efforts into stopping CLAW from taking over Riverton.
How is the transfer?
If there was an award for the most colorful DVD
transfer, I would give it to this film. This transfer
is so strikingly bold and vividly colorful that it
just leaps out at you. From pink bubble gum, the purple
Gadget mobile to G2s blue uniform, you'll see color
in ways you have never seen it before. This really
looks like a live-action cartoon! Images are
razor-sharp and the transfer is void of any background
distractions such as noise or grain. Dare I say it's
just perfect?!
The 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix is pretty good.
Sound is awfully robust with very good stereo
separation across the fronts. All the cool "boinks"
and "whooshes" are neatly captured in the rear
channels, though not as aggressively as I hoped,
as this turns out to be a mostly front-heavy audio
effort.
You also have the ability to play this film with
movie music soundtrack only capability. Just
the music -- no dialogue or effects.
Special Features
This DVD sports two separate audio commentaries
The first is with Director Alex Zamm. The second is
with actors French Stewart, Elaine Hendrix, and
director Alex Zamm. I'm a little confused as to
why a kid's film like this needed such commentaries --
especially for the fact that kids are the only ones
likely to care enough to listen to it. From the
little bit of director Alex Zamm's commentary I heard,
it seems that he goes into great depth of explaining
how every stunt and CGI effect was produced. The
bad thing is, he speaks in terms that go way over
the heads of his targeted audience.
Illustrated Gadget gives the kiddies the
opportunity to learn all about the functions of
the original Gadget and the improved G2. Using
the remote control, all you need to do is click on
individual areas of each character to see gadgets
like the helicopter hat, shoe springs and the
boomerang air pistol.
Are you go-go-Gadget material? Find out by using
the Gadget Training Simulator which gives
you multiple choices of tools to use to save the
day. Don't worry if you get it wrong the first
time -- this is only a simulation.
Behind The Scenes shows you the gadgets
behind Gadgets gadgets. This is the real meat
and potatoes on how many of the gadgets and some
of the biggest thrill scenes were put together.
You'll have a rather good time watching how
various behind-the-scenes effects artists,
puppeteers and computer graphics created all the
on-screen cartoonish hi jinks.
(length: approx. 32 minutes)
There are 11 minutes worth of deleted scenes
that are mostly quick extension cuts and an alternative
opening to the film. There is 3 minutes worth of
outtakes that should bring a smile to kid's
faces.
A storyboard to film comparison focuses on
the film's climatic bridge scene where Gadget and
G2 must stop Claw and his henchman from making their
escape.
Finally, the film's music video, Up, Up, Up
by Rose Falcon
Final Thoughts
Sometimes I have to remember that I am a nearly
40-year-old guy looking at a film made for an
age group of 6-10. Because of this, I have to give
two different perspectives to this review. I would
think that kids are going to find this film to be
mindless, fun entertainment full of slapstick comedy
and really cool gadgets. This film is far more
cartoonish than the original, and it plays that role
very well. If you are a big boy like me, however,
this film has no use in your library unless you are
forced to watch it with your kids.
Release Date: March 11, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
