This screen version of the "cuddly cyborg" cartoon series is one of the most mindless Hollywood movies you're ever likely to see. Abandoning all plot after the first reel, it devotes its energies to beating us senseless with a succession of slapstick effects sequences. Matthew Broderick's performance as the computerised cop is so bland he barely exists, while the script is witless, ineptly structured and solely reliant on Gadget's extendable bits and bobs. After a few scenes, the novelty wears very thin.

John Brown is a bumbling but well-intentioned security guard who is badly injured in an explosion planned by an evil mastermind. He is taken to a laboratory, where Brenda, a leading robotics surgeon, replaces his damaged limbs with state-of-the-art gadgets and tools. Named "Inspector Gadget" by the press, John -- along with his niece, Penny, and her trusty dog, Brain -- uses his new powers to discover who was behind the explosion.