Color, NR (nothing offensive), 70 min., DVD or VHS $19.98
DVD: deleted scenes, bloopers, "Inspector's School of Gadgetry" and "Build Your Own Gadget" featurettes
Street: Sept. 6, Prebook: now
First Run: Video premiere
Voices: Maurice LaMarche (Team America: World Police), Bernie Mac (Guess Who), Tegan Moss (The Guilty), Brian Drummond (Barbie Fairytopia)
Director: Ezekiel Norton
LIONS GATE
Story Line: Dr. Claw (Drummond) has stolen a dinosaur egg and arranged for the subsequent flying beast to destroy Metro City. It's up to scatterbrained bionic detective Gadget (LaMarche) to use his built-in mechanical devices to stop the plot.
Bottom Line: The Inspector Gadget franchise started as a 1983 animated TV show skein before morphing into a live-action feature film starring Matthew Broderick in 1999 (followed by a video premiere sequel starring French Stewart in 2003). In Biggest Caper, the character returns to his animated roots, this time via the computer programmers at Mainframe Entertainment, who have done up the Inspector in their fluid and dynamic computer-generated imagery. It's a good thing the production looks as vivid as it does, because the story is only serviceable, with lots of flab in the middle that doesn't help move the narrative along. The only thing that keeps the wheel-spinning scenes from crashing is the frustratingly likeable title character, who combines the nasal vocals from Don Adams' Maxwell Smart with Mr. Magoo's bumbling insouciance. The final reel, which features car chases and creature action, redeems much of the middle, and the adventure ends on a high note. If kids can get through the slow patches, word-of-mouth could be solid. The shiny, embossed metal packaging will help.
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