The Movie:

Being a fan of the original TV show, I recently saw 2008's Get Smart remake at the theaters and quite frankly it was everything I hoped it was going to be. The cast was superb and the spirit of the original series was certainly in there. The bottom line is if you were a fan of the original then check it out; you'll be glad you did. Then again this review isn't for Get Smart; it's for a direct to DVD spin-off featuring two characters from the film.

Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control is an interesting release when you get right down to it. Typical when you see a spin-off you're looking at a year or so down the line as a way to capitalize on a larger audience that has already seen the film. With Out of Control being released concurrently with Get Smart the amount of interested parties is undoubtedly smaller. You need to have seen the movie in order to be even remotely intrigued by Bruce and Lloyd's exploits. Needless to say it's a decidedly bold move on the part of Warner to release this when they did. I'm not entirely sure that fortune favors the bold in this instance because as nicely marketed as this release is it's certainly flawed. The biggest problem here is that Out of Control has very little to offer that is even remotely familiar to its theatrical counterpart. Or as Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much!"

Rather than tell a tale about Bruce (Masi Oka) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence) at a different point in the franchise Out of Control is supposed to be a side story about what happens to the lab nerds while Agents 86 and 99 are out on assignment. This adventure is completely separate despite a couple of instances where the stories intersect so don't expect to see Max, 23, or many of the other main players (Anne Hathaway does have a brief appearance but that bit feels shoehorned in). What you do get from this feature is a mildly entertaining diversion that has a few moments of brilliance scattered throughout a weak script with failed jokes and wasted potential. It's not all bad but I dare say that if you're expecting a level of quality close to or on par with the actual Get Smart film you're going to be greatly disappointed.

Out of Control begins with Bruce and Lloyd testing out an invisibility cloak known as the OCT (Optical Camouflage Technology). Agent 91 (Terry Crews) is the guinea pig in a paintball practice match between Control and the CIA. Considering the gadget gurus haven't perfected the battery time 91 soon finds himself in a bit of an embarrassing situation and this moment only serves as a catalyst for a rivalry between the two government groups. The CIA wants to steal the cloak and Control wants to perfect it and protect it; a task that Bruce and Lloyd simply aren't up to.

For being such geniuses Bruce and Lloyd are quite inept when it comes to other areas of life. They throw a party at control to celebrate their success at coming up with a greater energy source for the cloak but during it a beautiful South American agent sneaks in and steals the weapon. The rest of Out of Control follows the dynamic duo as they attempt to track down their technology and best the CIA in the process. The events that follow feel forced and haphazard at times but in between it all the film's main characters are charming enough to muddle through.

Bruce and Lloyd have a good amount of working chemistry and you really get the sense that they have been friends for some time. It's the little interactions between them that make up the good moments here. When Bruce goes after a girl named Nina (Jayma Mays) who reeks of death due to her position at Control, Lloyd invents a perfume that kills the stench and allows his buddy to get to know her. Likewise watching Bruce dole out nuggets of wisdom about women and life to his buddy is equally amusing because neither really has a clue. (On a side note, fans of Heroes will appreciate seeing Jayma and Masi on screen together again)

Beyond the interactions between its main characters Out of Control simply fumbles the ball while trying to piece a feature around the two. The quest for the OCT becomes more ridiculous as it goes on and there are simply too many diversions in between. It all feels like a collection of ideas loosely tied together with string and there is very little here that makes it part of the Get Smart universe beyond the phone booth and names Control and Kaos.

If the creators of Out of Control spent more time exploring the origins of Bruce and Lloyd and created more of a script around them then this film would have been much better. As it stands it feels like a collection of rejected ideas and gags stuck together with some adhesive. Some of these elements are genuinely funny but between these moments there are a lot of deadpanned gimmicks and very little actual storytelling. Fans of the Get Smart film may get some mileage of it with a rental but if you're looking for a release with legs to stand on then you're going to want to look elsewhere.

The DVD:

Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control is presented on DVD with two different aspect ratios available on the same disc. A full frame 1.33:1 features the pan and scan version of the feature while the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen definitely one-ups the dreaded full screen nonsense. Considering this is a direct to DVD release the budget for this title is undeniably smaller than a larger project. This means that the picture quality is not quite as good as it could have been but given the amount of coverage for this release it's slightly better than average.

Throughout this film the picture is softer than what you'd expect with most scenes lacking the level of crispness major releases enjoy. The look isn't bad per say but it's definitely disappointing and doesn't capture all of the details that it should. In addition to this there is a fine layer of grain over the image that can be kind of distracting at times. Darkly lit scenes are the grainiest by comparison and to be honest there are no naturally rich blacks and shadows because of this. This gives the feature a somewhat flat appearance. Despite these flaws Out of Control isn't a "bad" looking film; it's just an underwhelming one.

Out of Control comes with an English 5.1 track as it's only audio selection aside from English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Like the video quality, the sound here is flatter than it should be. The 5.1 offering is always nice to have but when most of the output comes from the front channels instead of the rear there's definitely not much going on in the way of immersion. Granted this is a dialogue driven film and as such the rear channels aren't needed quite as much but there were plenty of opportunities that were squandered. The audio doesn't contain any flaws and in the end it's suitable for what the film strives to achieve; it's just underwhelming in the process.

The bonus material for Out of Control is mostly promotional and there's not much meat to it which isn't very surprising. The first extra feature is "Bruce and Lloyd Confessionals" (14: 31) which puts the actors alone in front of a camera talking in character about random things. There are a few amusing bits here but in the end it's merely an entertaining diversion than anything substantial.

The second feature on this disc is "Cue the Anti-Follicular Device" (4:59). In this promotional bit we see some behind the scenes content as the cast and crew talks about Bruce and Lloyd's beloved gadget that causes immediate and presumably permanent hair loss. We're taken into the dressing room for make up and they talk about the gun in the film for a tad as well. The best thing you're going to find on this disc is "Bruce and Lloyd Tech" (13:25). This brief feature takes a look at the gadgets of the film as a whole and talks about their potential in the real world. It's amusing on some levels but in the end it's not something that will make you appreciate the film more.

If you enjoyed the Get Smart film and found these characters amusing then you may appreciate this release. Unfortunately this one is better left as a rental than a purchase due to the spotty quality. A stronger script and better wit would have gone a long way to improving the experience.

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