The reincarnation of the '60s series Get Smart, which was a spoof of the secret agent genre (opening the path for the likes of Austin Powers), is a bold enterprise but it somehow fails to complete its task. The problem was that the feature film could follow in the footsteps of the original series, because it would have felt exactly like a Naked Gun / Austin Powers ripoff.

What the producing team tried to do was to make the movie funny, Austin Powers style, and action packed, Bond Style, and yet also romantic. Which is interesting but probably too much to aim for. It wants to be funny, but it's silly. The girl-Bond that Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) tries to be doesn't quite live up to Bond standards. The allegedly romantic sub-plot is too predictable.

Maxwell Smart (Carell) and Agent 99 are working for a CIA-like group dubbed CONTROL, fighting an evil organization called KAOS. Smart gets promoted to Agent 99's sidekick following an information leak which reveals the identity of more competent agents.

Wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson gets to lock his lips against those of Steve Carell, which is somewhat unexpected and awkward. However, it seems like Dwayne enjoyed himself, declaring that it was "fantastic." It seems that both he and Hathaway are fond of making out with Carell. Hathaway declared to reporters that kissing Carell was "the yummiest, lollipop, dipped-in-sunshine experience."

Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the original series, also makes a cameo in the new Get Smart. The movie gets released Friday and was made on a $80 million budget. It is directed by Peter Segal and written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, while Warner Bros. are handling the distribution.