It could be said that the role of Maxwell Smart, blundering icon of cold war ineptitude, both made and broke the acting career of Don Adams. He inhabited the character so seamlessly and successfully that the man and the role became forever indissoluble. Coming right to the head of the line of good decisions made in the resurrection of “Get Smart” was to avoid all mimicry of Don Adams’ indelible characterization.

Steve Carell is an excellent choice for the role, and though dutifully, even respectfully, rolling out every one of Agent 86’s famous catch phrases, he imbues Smart with his own particular flavor of stone-faced, straight-laced buffoonery. One of the core, if obvious, jokes of the original, was that this agent named Smart was actually quite stupid. Carell’s version turns it all inside out, while somehow retaining a great deal of the original’s charm. He’s a klutz, maybe, a fool, occasionally, a geek, undeniably, but here he’s presented as secret spy agency CONTROL’s finest intelligence data analyst. He speaks a dozen languages and has a bloodhound’s capacity for extricating important kernels out of mountains of information. He’s so good at what he does, in fact, that he’s repeatedly refused promotion out of his cubicle to full fledged “Agent.”

His big chance arrives when a mole leaks a file out to the evil anarchist forces of KAOS, and all the agents’ carefully guarded covers are blown. CONTROL has only one active agent left—the seasoned and sexy Agent 99 (played with surprising spark by Anne Hathaway). Having recently undergone extensive reconstructive surgery to keep her identity a secret (“I had them shave off a few years while they were at it”), Hathaway adds an interesting dimension to the character and her relationship with Smart, who appears 20 years her senior. As the two are partnered and sent trotting across the globe to discover and foil KAOS’ diabolical plans, the rivalry between the rock star action hero agents and the pasty nerd tech drones finds some new mileage as 99 is none-too-pleased to be tethered to this bumbling rookie. Though initially frosted to constantly get her new partner out of the messes he gets himself into, her ice is slowly chipped away by Smart’s honest eagerness to prevail and his, let’s say, unconventional approaches to problem solving in high tension situations.

And the situations do get tense. For a lighthearted little romp, the action scenes are taken quite seriously. Though incorporating a few stunts lifted directly from Roger Moore-era Bond adventures, the style of the action is much more evocative of the recent “Bourne” series. No doubt another deliberate decision, it turns out to be a good one. The action snaps right along, pausing occasionally for incidental laugh breaks and a few well-placed cameos. (Anyone who remembers the original series’ Agent 13—always concealed in the most unlikely of hiding places—will just adore Bill Murray’s ruddy, gnomish mug peeking sheepishly out of a tree trunk.)

Speaking of supporting cast, “Get Smart” gets that right, too. Dwayne Johnson swaggers through his scenes as uber-agent 23 like a bronzed Vegas showman. James Caan radiates a mischievous glee as a disturbingly familiar, and not very bright, U.S. president. Though comedy may not be Terrance Stamp’s strongest suit, he simply oozes malice as the super villain evil-doer Ziegfried. Alan Arkin never fails to be awesome, but here he especially shines. Stepping into the Chief’s shoes, he brings a well-worn, old school scrappiness to the table and conveys a great fatherly balance of affection for, and annoyance with, Smarts’ antics.

As the satire of the original series goes, there’s a palpable lack of direction with the loss of the cold war backdrop, and the addition of a sympathetic back story for Smart seems superfluous at best (he has apparently recently shed 200 pounds, but this detail makes exactly zero impact on the arc of his story), but these are piddling complaints against a flick that entertains so easily and made so many decent choices.
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Recycling may never be more popular than it is right now in Hollywood. They’ve regurgitated nearly every sitcom with even the slightest cultural cache, with wildly variant degrees of success (ahem…“Adams Family,” “Bewitched,” “Boris and Natasha,” “Brady Bunch,” “Flintstones,” “Fugitive,” “Honeymooners,” “George of the Jungle,” “Josie and the Pussycats,” “Maverick,” “Mission Impossible,” “The Munsters,” “Scooby-Doo,” “Star Trek,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Twilight Zone,” “The Untouchables,” to name just a few). “Get Smart” may not exactly eclipse “The Untouchables,” but it sure beats the stuffing out of “Boris and Natasha.” If there’s anything worse than a remake, it may be a sequel of a remake, but in this case, it might not be a bad idea.