Inspector Gadget 2 on DVD

Disney has made some pretty good direct-to-video presentations, as you can see by some of the other Disney DVD’s we’ve reviewed on these virtual pages.

Unfortunately, Inspector Gadget 2 isn’t one of them.

Oh, the production values are very good, as are the special effects, and the performances of the actors are probably fine too when you consider what they have to work with.

And that’s the problem. They don’t have much to work with. IG2 suffers from a script that is at best lame and at worst tedious.

French Stewart plays the Inspector this time (perhaps Matthew Broderick, who starred in the original, read the script first) and he mugs his way through the vacant screenplay in a very cartoonish manner. His “cyborg” is joined this time by a sequel gadget, “G2,” played by Elaine Hendrix. She’s an upgraded version of the Inspector, with better hardware and software that doesn’t screw up as much, and this makes her more valuable to the police force than the gaffe-and-error-prone Gadget V1.0. So our hero gets fired, but isn't about to take being replaced by a new model lying down.

The Inspectors Gadget are once again out to foil the Claw, who’s planning a high tech crime of the century. He’s nasty in a cartoonish way and his minions are merely cartoonish - not that there’s really anything wrong with that when we’re talking about a movie that originated in a cartoon.

Best of all, at 88 minutes, Inspector Gadget 2 is at least short.

As a DVD, it’s pretty good. The disc is THX-certified and as usual this means the audio and video quality are terrific. The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and the image is sharp and clean and colorful, though maybe a tad oversaturated. Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and is also very good.

As is typical of Disney DVD’s you also get plenty of extras. Many are aimed at the kiddies, not surprisingly, but there’s also a pair of running commentaries with director Alex Zamm and the stars. You also get a music video “Up, Up, Up” by Rose Falcon, 12 deleted scenes, outtakes, and storyboard to film comparisons. There are also some behind the scenes featurettes.

For the kids, there’s “Illustrated Gadget” activities, a “Gadget Training simulator” game.

But if you’re looking for a good Disney DVD for the kids, there are plenty of others that are far better.

Inspector Gadget 2, from Walt Disney Home Video
88 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring French Stewart, Elaine Hendrix, Caitlin Wachs
Produced by Charles Hirschhorn and Peter M. Green.
Written by Ron Anderson and William Robertson & Alex Zamm, Directed byAlex Zamm

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