After more than 15 years of silence, the world’s most clueless secret agent is back — and somehow still employed. Get Smart (2024) reboots the classic spy spoof with updated gadgets, sharper satire, and plenty of well-timed chaos. Directed by Adam McKay, this sequel brings back Steve Carell as the lovable and dangerously incompetent Agent Maxwell Smart, joined once again by Anne Hathaway as the ever-capable Agent 99.
Now promoted (somehow) to Director of Field Operations, Max is quickly pulled out of his office and back into action when a cyber-terrorist organization called K-HAX threatens to unleash a digital mind-control virus through smart devices worldwide. Chaos (the villainous group formerly known as KAOS) has evolved — and so must Control.
But Max hasn’t changed much at all.
Joining the mission is a new tech-genius recruit, Agent 77 (Timothée Chalamet), whose dry Gen Z sarcasm clashes hilariously with Max’s outdated methods. Together, they bungle their way through exploding apps, mistaken identities, and a full-blown drone chase through Dubai — all while trying to prevent a global neurological hijack.
Get Smart (2024) doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it leans into its nostalgic roots, blending slapstick action, absurd espionage, and heartwarming chemistry between its returning leads. Carell is once again in top form — his physical comedy and deadpan delivery as Max remain charmingly clueless. Anne Hathaway, as always, brings poise and intelligence to Agent 99, grounding the film whenever it teeters too far into farce.
The new addition, Timothée Chalamet as Agent 77, is a welcome surprise. His sardonic tech-genius foil adds a modern dynamic and keeps the generational humor fresh without overplaying it.
Director Adam McKay injects the story with sharp jabs at modern surveillance culture, corporate tech monopolies, and the paranoia of digital dependency. Think Alexa-meets-espionage. While the plot occasionally gets weighed down by over-the-top set pieces, the comedy remains clever, with running gags involving malfunctioning AI assistants, biometric bathroom locks, and a recurring pigeon who may or may not be a spy.
The film’s pacing is solid, though it plays safe in its structure — not quite as bold as other spy comedies like Kingsman or The Nice Guys, but infinitely more wholesome.
With Get Smart (2024) ending on a surprising twist — revealing that Agent 77 may have unknowingly helped design K-HAX’s mind-control tech — a sequel seems inevitable.
Get Smarter could explore Max mentoring a new generation of agents in a Control training academy, while trying to uncover a mole within the agency itself. Add in international intrigue, deepfake impersonations, and Max accidentally going viral on TikTok during a mission — and you’ve got the ingredients for a fresh, ridiculous, and relevant new chapter.
Get Smart (2024) is exactly what it should be: a goofy, energetic, feel-good return to a beloved world of bumbling spies and world-ending stakes. It’s not the smartest film of the year — but that’s the point. And in an age of grim reboots and gritty antiheroes, a bit of joyful incompetence is a breath of fresh air.
