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Thursday marks 27 years since a critically panned superhero movie was released in theaters. Nearly three decades later, its reputation certainly hasn't improved whatsoever.
As far as '90s movies based on superheroes and comic book characters went, they were largely hit-or-miss. In hindsight, Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992) is considered one of the better superhero films of the decade.
But at the time, it drew polarizing reviews because of the dark and gloomy tone, leading to Warner Bros. replacing him with Joel Schumacher for Batman Forever (1995) and the colossal disappointment, Batman & Robin (1997). In hindsight, The Crow (1994) and Blade (1998) stand out as the better superhero/comic book character films of the '90s.
Unfortunately, Disney's efforts to hit on the popular superhero genre at the end of the century failed to pan out.
On July 23, 1999, Disney's highly anticipated superhero film, Inspector Gadget, debuted in theaters across the United States and Canada. This was the first live-action film for the character introduced in Inspector Gadget, the DIC Entertainment '80s cartoon series.
Inspector Gadget was directed by David Kellogg, starring Matthew Broderick (John Brown and Inspector Gadget), Rupert Everett (Sanford Scolex and Dr. Claw) and Joely Fisher (Dr. Brenda Bradford).
The supporting cast included Michelle Trachtenberg (Penny Brown), Andy Dick (Kramer), Mike Hagerty (Sykes), Cheri Oteri (Mayor Wilson) and Dabney Coleman as Chief Frank Quimby (Police Chief Quimby).
John Brown, a security guard for Dr. Bradford's company, is seriously injured and nearly killed after trying to stop Dr. Claw from stealing valuable technology. Dr. Bradford's team turns a wounded Brown into a cyborg with a special ability to use machinery and specific gadgets.
Using his new powers, Inspector Gadget is tasked with helping Dr. Bradford (his love interest) avenge her father's murder and stop Scolex from using her technology to build more evil androids. Additionally, Brown must stop an android that masterfully impersonates him (Robo-Gadget) from causing more destruction around the city.
‘Inspector Gadget’ Was Met With Overwhelmingly Negative Reviews
Inspector Gadget grossed $134.4 million worldwide, but the campy comedy, bizarre script, weak graphics and CGI truly stood out in a film that generated overwhelmingly negative reviews.
Look no further than the film's 20% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The late Roger Ebert hardly gave a glowing review of Inspector Gadget:
"Obviously I would be better armed to deal with this stuff had I ever seen an Inspector Gadget cartoon," Ebert wrote. "I could discuss how it does or doesn’t live up to, or down to, the original. As it is I’m stuck with the movie as a stand-alone, and I’m pretty underwhelmed.
"Perhaps younger kids will like it more. I didn’t care about the action because it made no difference to me who won or lost. The plot was an arbitrary concoction. The bad guy is played by Everett as a man fastidiously keeping a certain distance from the jokes."
In a review of Inspector Gadget following its release, Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film "feels like a demonstration reel for toys, action figures and future DisneyQuest installations."
Despite the movie's negative reviews, Disney gave the green light for Inspector Gadget 2. The 2003 direct-to-video film saw French Stewart replace Broderick as the character.
