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The classic TV series GET SMART from Mel Brooks and Buck Henry gets a modern redux for the big screen. Having been a spoof of James Bond to start, the TV series seems like a perfect one to bring into the 21st century now that we have Bond and Bourne battling it out for box office supremacy. Peter Segal’s feature GET SMART not only takes some nice pokes at those super spies, but at modern espionage in the real world as well.

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell, THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN) is the top analyst for CONTROL, a U.S. government spy agency in competition with the CIA. He dreams of becoming an agent like the brawny and handsome Agent 23 (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, SOUTHLAND TALES). However, the Chief (Alan Arkin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) likes Max right where he is. However when Siegfried (Terence Stamp, SUPERMAN II), the spokesperson for the terrorist org KAOS, obtains the identities of all CONTROL agents, Max gets a promotion and is partnered with the beautiful Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED), who recently had major plastic surgery to hide her identity. Their mission is to stop KAOS from blowing up the Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. on the day that the President (James Caan, THE GODFATHER) plans to attend.

Carell was a perfect choice as Maxwell Smart. He doesn’t attempt to imitate Don Adams, instead captures the essence of the character. Carell’s Agent 86 is skilled and smart, but has a knack for bumbling things up and overlooking the obvious. His rapport with Agent 99, played alluringly by Hathaway, has a sexual awkwardness that’s sweet. Both characters are given interesting backgrounds that lead them to believe strongly in not prejudging people, even if the person is a turban-wearing giant thug. Other funny performances include: HEROES’s Masi Oka and Nate Torrence as Bruce and Lloyd, respectively, as nerdy tech experts; Terry Crews (BALLS OF FURY) and David Koechner (ANCHORMAN) as two arrogant senior agents; and Bill Murray in a cameo as Agent 13 (and for those who remember the series you can expect him to show up in an odd place).

While the film has its share of unfunny lowbrow humor, the contemporary pokes at modern espionage and terrorism have some wit. I like how it’s the vice president that is always calling the shots. Additionally, Segal often adds something unexpected to the spy clichés, which makes an obligatory “slipping past a laser beam security system” scene funnier than expected. Writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember do a good job of balancing nuanced satire with silliness. And the action sequences are filmed like action sequences, only these end with a joke instead of a bang.

Well cast and at times surprisingly witty, GET SMART is certainly one of the better TV-to-film adaptations of late. It succeeds in bringing the show into the modern age, paying tribute to the original without slavishly imitating it, and finding new things to say about its inspiration’s original target — spy flicks. This TV remake doesn’t miss it by that much like so many before it have.

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