All the whiz-bang gizmos and cool high-tech gadgets are back in Walt Disney Pictures a new live-action family comedy premiering only on Disney DVD and Video! Is it possible? Just when things were quieting down in Riverton, Claw stages a daring escape from prison. But "wowser," our favorite stumbling Inspector Gadget has just been put on probation by Chief Quimby for some ultra-honest mistakes. Nonetheless, the chase is on as Claw has his hands full plotting a new "Crime of the Century" that's pure gold, and the ever-political Mayor unveils G2 -- an all-robot, all-tech, all-girl, next generation of gadget policing. Could it get worse for our hero? What goes down next is the G-ticket of hair-raising, gadget-crazy mishaps, miscues, stakeouts, and showdowns as G1 and G2 try to go-go save the world with help from Brain, niece Penny, and the irrepressibly tricked-out Gadgetmobile!

A live-action Inspector Gadget is back, this time with higher tech gadgets and more special effects. French Stewart (TV's Third Rock from the Sun) replaces Matthew Broderick as the bumbling detective in a plot that revolves around the glitch-ridden Gadget's replacement by a completely robotized female. Parent Trap's Elaine Hendrix does what little she can with the one-dimensional role of "G2." Still, Gadget falls for his rival and the pair team up with his smart-as-a-whip niece Penny and her brainy beagle for a showdown with Claw. Where Broderick struggled to humanize the caricature of an inept detective in the 1999 original, Stewart doesn't even try. Instead he plays Gadget as a cartoon, with endless mugging and over-the-top theatrics. The enhanced special effects may placate young viewers, but without the comedy of the original, that's small comfort. The best thing about this movie? It's rated G and, thus, harmless. (Ages 4 to 10) --Kimberly Heinrichs

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