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When KAOS learns the identity of all other CONTROL agents, analyst Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is promoted to Agent 86 and paired with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to recover nuclear material and thwart Siegfried’s (Terrence Stamp) evil plan. Alan Arkin stars as The Chief, with Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23.

Big question: Can the writers of “Failure to Launch” and the director of “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps” successfully adapt the popular ‘60s spy satire for new audiences without losing the original’s goofy spirit?

Skip it: On the show Max was endearingly oblivious, but Carell turns him into an obnoxious idiot who’s less like the old Maxwell Smart and more like other Steve Carell characters. When Max screams obscenities after being hit with multiple mini-crossbow arrows, “40-Year-Old Virgin” fans will be very surprised he doesn’t yell “Kelly Clarkson!”

Catch it: If you’ll crack up at gags like Max uttering, “That’s not cheese,” when a rat bites him below the belt, or numerous fat and gay jokes that seem stolen from bad Adam Sandler movies. Did series co-creator Mel Brooks really approve this?

Bottom line: What once depended more on sharp wit and pure comic silliness now only clicks when something’s exploding or Hathaway’s given room to explore the snappy side of 99 and 86’s love-hate relationship. In other words, the catchphrases (“Missed it by that much”) remain, but the love is gone.

Bonus: Finally, villains get recognized as humans, not monsters! As Max explains about bad guys, “That is what they do, not who they are.”

Video: Watch the review of 'Get Smart'

What do you think of 'Get Smart'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com

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