The fault is mine.  I could have picked other movies, but I chose Inspector Gadget 2 (2003).  It is not intended for people my age.  As such, I did not laugh at the infantile antics of this G rated nonsense.  There I go, however, being critical of something that was not made with me in mind.  I am going to try to rein in the criticisms as much as possible because of this fact.  Nonetheless, it must be mentioned that I do not understand why this is called a sequel.  Sure, it is about the same fictional, cartoon, inept crime fighter from the 1999 version.  Yet, nobody from the film, save for the voice of the Gadgetmobile (D. L. Hughley) returned for the so-called follow-up.  In fact, though it is the same model, they decided to give the aforementioned vehicle a different paint job.  Further, they went away from the name John Brown (Matthew Broderick) in this one, sticking with just Inspector Gadget (French Stewart).  Finally, when I did a little digging and found zero explanation as to the absence of the original cast, I did learn that this one is supposed to be more faithful to what I will laughingly refer to as the “source material.”  Okay, so, let us get on with it.

I suppose there is one attempt to link Inspector Gadget 2 to its predecessor in the beginning with our title character not having much to do since Dr. Claw (Tony Martin) is in jail.  With Inspector Gadget’s various surgically implanted robotic tools consistently glitching, he decides to apprehend an elderly female driver going 0.3 miles per hour (MPH) over the speed limit.  This does not endear him to Chief Frank Quimby (Mark Mitchell) because the woman Inspector Gadget takes into custody is his mother (Alethea McGrath).  These flubs are becoming more common for Inspector Gadget, and Baxter (Bruce Spence), the scientist at headquarters that is supposed to help the cyborg police officer, is of little assistance.  Not only does he not fix anything on Inspector Gadget, but he reveals that there will be a new upgrade to soon be unveiled.  Inspector Gadget assumes it will be for him.  Instead, Mayor Wilson (Sigrid Thorton) gives the city of Riverton a new, completely robotic member of law enforcement, G2 (Elaine Hendrix).  She comes on duty just as news of Dr. Claw’s escape from confinement reaches them.  Naturally, Inspector Gadget assumes that he will be the one to take the case, but the assignment is given to G2 and he is ordered to stay as far away as possible.  Chief Quimby’s specific orders are for Inspector Gadget to stay 100 feet from where G2 is staking out Dr. Claw’s comings and goings.  Thus, he keeps a 101 foot distance.  Seeing the trouble that her uncle is in, Penny (Caitlin Wachs), does what she can in order to try and assist with the investigation.  She earnestly wants to help her uncle, but he sees the work as too dangerous for a kid.  He is right, of course, but his straightforward, unimaginative way of thinking means that he misses nearly every pertinent clue pertaining to Dr. Claw’s plans of world domination.  The evil genius intends to do this (and I am skipping ahead here a bit for context’s sake) by building a laser that can stop time in a certain area. That certain area is the part of Riverton where the government has installed a new vault for the Federal Reserve banking system, which stores vast amounts of gold.  To accomplish this feat, he needs a couple of items that conveniently show up at different points in the plot for him to send his minions to fetch.  The first few times, Penny’s work manages to nudge Inspector Gadget in the right direction, only to see his ineptitude bungle the entire operation.  At one point, Dr. Claw’s goons manage to stick a device to Inspector Gadget that allows the villain to control the movements of his archenemy, which embarrasses Inspector Gadget in front of Mayor Wilson and allows Dr. Claw to make off with yet another component of his doomsday weapon.  That embarrassment leads to Inspector Gadget to being fired from the police force completely.  Once more, Penny tries to render her services to get her uncle reinstated, but again she is denied.  In response, she decides to continue looking into Dr. Claw’s affairs on her own, which leads to her capture.  Meanwhile, Inspector Gadget takes up a job as a valet at a fancy gala event where a massive red ruby on loan from India will be on display.  Of course, this is the last piece Dr. Claw needs.  With Inspector Gadget no longer a cop, and G2 rendered useless by a giant magnet, the bad guys are able to steal the jewel.  An angered Mayor Wilson orders the end of the Gadget program, and Chief Quimby has G2 shut down.  However, Inspector Gadget, having learned of Penny’s capture by Dr. Claw from his dog, Brain (voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett), needs his crush, G2, to get his niece back.  Forming a new bond, and with the Gadgetmobile getting them to where they need to be, they are able to catch up with Dr. Claw.  Though they arrive after the vault has already been broken into, they are able to prevent the criminal mastermind from getting away with the loot.  They may have stopped the theft of the money, but Dr. Claw is able to escape, vowing he will get Inspector Gadget next time.  So far, there has not been a “next time.”  What we do get is an awards ceremony for G2 and Inspector Gadget, with Inspector Gadget giving his niece a medal, too.  We close with G2 and Inspector Gadget kissing, fireworks coming out of his hat.

I have made it this far with my discussion of Inspector Gadget 2 while maintaining what I feel is a pretty even tone.  I am kind of proud of myself for doing so.  I mean, I do not get how the good guys know that Dr. Claw intends world domination, but again, all this might make sense to a five-year-old.  And if somebody of that age watches this movie and finds it hilarious, great.  Who am I to say that is ridiculous?  As always, my desire is to give you some sort of Catholic philosophy that can be gleaned from a given piece of cinema.  That was a tall order with its predecessor, and it is even more difficult with this one.  The best I can do is to discuss G2’s insistence on working alone.  With the choice of available partners, I cannot say I blame her, but that is an uncharitable thing for me to say.  Again, I chose the movie, so I am trying to keep the whinging to a minimum.  There is a line in a prayer I say on a daily basis called the Litany of Trust that says, “From the false security that I have what it takes/ Deliver me, Jesus.”  It is a particularly modern defect of ours to believe that we can do everything on our own.  To ask others for assistance is to invite the suggestion that we are weak in some way.  The Bible and Faith will tell you that we are weak, but not in the way it is commonly thought.  In a spiritual sense, we cannot obtain everlasting life without God.  This might seem obvious, but He is meant to be a daily companion, not somebody we fix in some difficult to see future far down the road (or closer, depending on your station in life).  Every day, every moment, is an opportunity to reach out to God who loves and sustains us.  Doing so in this manner covers our weaknesses.  To this end, there is an interesting moment when Inspector Gadget admits his own problems to G2, and she gives him one of her computer chips in order to help correct his glitches.  They actually exchange devices, making her more vulnerable, but more human.  I see this as a reasonable, if silly, facsimile of what this notion of how we are called to not be alone.

I am thankful for having seen Inspector Gadget 2 if for no other reason than I can cross it off an imaginary list.  This way, I will never have to watch it again.  That might seem like a mean thing to say, and it is to a certain degree.  Yet, as I said, this is about trying (operative word) to stay positive with a film like this one.