New Inspector Gadget spazzes and fizzles (Animated series)
We love classic cartoons, and the 1980s series Inspector Gadget is no exception. The series followed the adventures of a bumbling cyborg detective, his niece Penny, and trusted canine companion Brain as they fight to stop the evil schemes of Dr Claw.
The show was a French, Canadian, and American co-production with animation produced in Japan and Taiwan. The show also featured a catchy theme tune that most adults of a certain age still know off by heart.
The new Inspector Gadget has been created with CGI. It picks up a few years after the end of the 2D version, after Dr Claw is rescued from an iceberg by his nephew Talon, and is back at work on his world domination plans. Inspector Gadget is brought out of retirement with a now teenage Penny and Brain (who doesn't seem to have aged) to thwart the nefarious duo. Making things a little more interesting is the crushes that Penny and Talon have on each other.
Sadly, the main problem with this revamp is its poor CGI, which is especially disappointing considering how good the animation for the old 2D show was for its time. While the characters don't look too bad, minimal effort has been put into the setting, which just comes off as lazy.
The storyline also fails due to a lack of adventurousness: there's no real new direction to the story, or twists outside what went before. And the Romeo and Juliet aspect is a tired gimmick and poorly executed.
All in all, the new Inspector Gadget is unfortunately not da bomb, but just a total bomb.