Inspector Gadget

John Brown works as a security guard at a research laboratory and dreams of becoming a great investigator, partly to impress Brenda Bradford, the professor's daughter he has long admired in secret. When the wealthy industrialist Sanford Scolex breaks in to steal the professor's work, John tries to intervene and is caught in a violent explosion that leaves him gravely injured and presumed dead. Brenda, a specialist in robotic surgery, rebuilds him with an array of built-in mechanical devices, and the resulting figure becomes known to the public as Inspector Gadget. With his niece Penny and her dog Brain at his side, he sets out to find whoever was responsible for the break-in and the explosion. The film draws on the 1980s animated television series of the same name.

David Kellogg directed, following his earlier feature Cool as Ice; Zak Penn and Kerry Ehrin wrote the screenplay. Matthew Broderick plays the title role, with Rupert Everett as Scolex, Joely Fisher as Brenda, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, Andy Dick as Kramer and Cheri Oteri as Mayor Wilson. Stan Winston handled the special effects.

Released in July 1999, the film cost about 75 million dollars and took in roughly 134 million worldwide, a modest return against its budget. Audiences were unenthusiastic: it holds 4.2 out of 10 on IMDb from over fifty thousand votes and 4.5 out of 10 on TMDB. Critics were similarly unimpressed, giving it 4.1 out of 10 across 64 reviews, closely matching the audience verdict.