Inspector Gadget

When I first found out they were making a new Inspector Gadget series I was excited and happy since I grew up with the 80's Inspector Gadget. But seeing what they have turned it into made me really disappointed.

1. The CGI is hideous and all the characters looks awful. I wish they would have gone back the 80's Inspector Gadget animation style. The 80's animation was beautiful.

2. The writing is awful!

3. What happened to Brain's character? He seems constantly angry/grumpy.

4. What happened to Penny's computer book?

5. What happened to Dr. Claw? In the 80's show he used to be a formidable foe, now he is just incompetent.

6. The new character Talon was a bad idea.

7. The voice casting is bad

8. Episodes only last around 10 minutes.

Inspector Gadget was always silly so I can't be mad at the silliness in the new show. The jokes aren't horrible most of the time and Gadget himself is his normal useless brand of crazy. The animation is a nice stylized upgrade. Penny's technology upgrade is great, I wondered how they would work with her old book and this is a nice change. Speaking of Penny, always great to hear Tara Strong at work. Gadget's voice is a great impression of the original. The introduction of Talon struck me as a little off though, he is growing on me but he is like a goofy version of Scott from Austin Powers while Dr. Claw is more like Dr. Evil. I do like how he is competent though giving Penny a challenge. And of course most of the day's problems are solved due to Gadget being basically a creature of chaos with unpredictable actions. So it is far from perfect, the theme is lacking too, but over all there are far worse things out there.

I have to give the show a thumbs down. While the show is still called "Inspector Gadget", the episodes typically revolve around Penny. What a waste! And although Gadget's naivety is pushed to the max, all his other personality traits seem to be gone. What about his ironic over-protecting of Penny? What about how he falls for every pretty lady he meets? Why is Brain such a grumpy grump? Why is Penny so awkward? Also, the super high-tech background is so unnecessary. They already had their own technology in the original series. And I definitely don't approve of the forced romance between Talon and Penny. Don't even get me started!

I admit that when I saw the first few episodes that I was not all that impressed by this sequel series. I missed the original theme song and the characters were just not quite the same. However, as the series moved into Season 2, and then Season 3, it gets better (or maybe you just adjust to the characters I don't know). You just have to get past expecting this to be some kind of reboot and see this for what it is; a newly designed series of Inspector Gadget.

This series has some subtle adult content going on between Penny and Talon. Most kids, however, would be oblivious to what is happening.

Inspector Gadget is even funnier in his level of bumbling into solving the cases he is assigned. Dr. Claw is just as silly as Gadget in choosing his villainous capers too.

Bottom line: Some humor is more subtle than others. This humor in this series is not subtle; this series is designed to be so outwardly silly that you laugh at what is happening. Once you realize this, it is quite enjoyable to watch!

The classic 1983 Inspector Gadget was one of my all-time favorite animated TV shows growing up. However, this revival series from WildBrain is incredibly monotonous and insulting. It focuses too much on childish writing and lacked heart. #1: the titular character, Inspector Gadget, never has any significance in any episode, and feels like he's been reduced to a forgettable side character. #2: the main villain, Dr. Claw, has been reduce to being painfully ignorant, juvenile and less threatening, and acts even more incompetent than his henchmen or nephew combined. #3: Dr. Claw's nephew, Talon, is incredibly arrogant and annoying, and his love/hate rivalry with Penny feels cliched and forced. #4: Gadget's niece Penny, and well as Brain, take up way too much of the spotlight, and act like she's the main character of the series instead of her uncle. #5: Literally every episode is about Dr. Claw doing malicious things for the most boring and juvenile reasons, then Penny and Brain do all the competent work while Gadget does absolutely nothing but saves the day with dumb luck all the time, rinse and repeat. Plus, seasons three and four made me rage quit. #6: The writing also lacks sincerity, opting for shallow, juvenile and contrived plot lines. Plus, any actual humor or character growth has been sacrificed for cheap jokes and outdated cliches. Finally, bizarrely this Canadian series is only available on Netflix in America, but aired reruns on Universal Kids after the show ended in late 2018. So releasing a Canadian cable TV show on an American streaming platform feels pointless. The only positive thing about this reboot is that one of the animators that worked on this show, Alex Henderson, later made one of my favorite independent animated short films on YouTube, The Rhino and the Redbill. So in conclusion, the 2015 Inspector Gadget reboot is incredibly lackluster and disappointing.