History YMMV / InspectorGadget1999

* CriticProof: It was poorly-reviewed by critics and ''Inspector Gadget'' fans alike, but still was a solid success at the box office.

* FirstInstallmentWins: While it isn't a good movie, it is loved by fans of late 1990s culture and some consider it better than its sequel.

* HoYay: That [[AmbiguouslyGay Kramer]] ''really'' seems to get off on [[RomanticizedAbuse Claw's]] [[EvilIsSexy abuse]]... while Claw praises Kramer in comparison to constantly dumping on Sikes. Not to mention:

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Of the directing variant, as David Kellogg was a ''commercial director'' whose only previous film effort was the critically panned ''Film/CoolAsIce''.
** Practically the entire cast has been hit with this, with Creator/RupertEverett and Creator/MatthewBroderick arguably being hit the hardest for their roles as Claw and Gadget, respectively. A less egregious case comes with Creator/MichelleTrachtenberg as Penny, who despite not being blonde at least attempts to make the most of the limited screentime she is afforded.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** As a few memes have pointed out, the "Sore Guru" bears more than a passing resemblance to UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden.
** Sikes was sleeping while ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is on. 20 years later, Disney owns Fox.
** Both Sanford Scolex and [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Deadpool]] are two characters whom their first cinematic appearance was quite unfaithful. Even funnier is that Fox and Marvel are now owned by Disney.

* {{Narm}}:
** Almost everyone's performance arguably falls under this, not helped by the peculiar casting choices. Outside of that, there's also that incredibly awkward fourth wall joke when Scolex and Kramer, along with the imprisoned Inspected Gadget, stare directly into the camera at the audience for no real good reason except for the sake of showing there's NoFourthWall. See BigLippedAlligatorMoment above.
** The entirety of the ''end credits'' becomes this when you sit through all of the random clips and dialogue from the Gadgetmobile [[EndingFatigue even after the bloody movie has ended]]. Even the ''casting credits'' could not turn down the opportunity at one last gag before finally concluding.

** Of the directing variant, as David Kellogg was a ''commercial director'' who's only previous film effort was the critically panned ''Film/CoolAsIce''.

** The transitions between scenes which seem to showcase Gadget's various devices. Thoroughly parodied by WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic who mocked how random and jarring they were.

** Creator/RichardEpcar provided [=ADR=] for this film. Years before and after it, he voiced in ''Anime/LupinIII'', which notoriously has the misinformation about it being an influence for the cartoon.

* {{Adorkable}}: John/Gadget might be a tad [[TheDitz airheaded]] or oblivious most of the time, but he's endearingly good-hearted and selfless.

* UncannyValley: Robo-Gadget. The shifty eyes and fake teeth are scary without trying. One could argue that Broderick made a better villain than a hero.

* {{Sequelitis}}: ''Film/InspectorGadget2'', a direct-to-video sequel that came out 4 years later. Even though it was closer to the cartoon, it was doomed from the start due to it being a sequel to a critically-panned movie, plus a sequel no one was asking for. Most of the cast of the previous film was either recast or their characters were replaced with similar stand-ins, the CGI is so bad it makes the CG in the first movie look like ''Film/JurassicPark'', and while the first film did have it's fans, the sequel has practically nothing to do with it. The writing is also incredibly lazy; clumsy, hand-waving explanations are all we get for why Brenda is now a male scientist or why Dr. Claw appears to have aged 40 years in only 4, plus Dr. Claw's big diabolical plan is basically [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]]'s plan for robbing Fort Knox, only with a laser that freezes time instead of knock-out gas. The sequel really would been better off had it just been a second adaptation of the cartoon with no ties to the first movie.

* HamAndCheese: Matthew Broderick played both Gadget and Robo-Gadget. He is quite clearly enjoying one of these roles way too much. [[EvilIsHammy Guess which one]].

* TheScrappy: Sanford Scolex isn't well liked for having his face completely revealed and that he is more appropriate for a henchman of Dr. Claw rather than Dr. Claw himself.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Inspector Gadget 2, a direct-to-video sequel that came out 4 years later. Even though it was closer to the cartoon, it was doomed from the start due to it being a sequel to a critically-panned movie, plus a sequel no one was asking for. Most of the cast of the previous film was either recast or their characters were replaced with similar stand-ins, the CGI is so bad it makes the CG in the first movie look like Jurassic Park, and while the first film did have it's fans, the sequel has practically nothing to do with it. The writing is also incredibly lazy; clumsy, hand-waving explanations are all we get for why Brenda is now a male scientist or why Dr. Claw appears to have aged 40 years in only 4, plus Dr. Claw's big diabolical plan is basically Goldfinger's plan for robbing Fort Knox, only with a laser that freezes time instead of knock-out gas. The sequel really would been better off had it just been a second adaptation of the cartoon with no ties to the first movie.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Many diehard fans are clearly unhappy that Claw reveals his face throughout the film.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: You'd never know that Penny was the actual hero of the television series if you're going solely by this film, and she is noticeably absent throughout a lot of the action despite being a much more able detective than her uncle. This did not go unnoticed by fans and critics, which is perhaps why her role in the sequel is much more prominent.
* TrailerJokeDecay: Several of the jokes from the film including deleted scenes are used in the trailers.

* {{Asspull}}: Gadget's pen projectile trick that he uses to save Brenda and to disable Claw's helicopter. It comes out of absolutely nowhere and no explanation is given for whatever he did to make it work as he intended.

** Similarly, Brain. In the cartoon, he was a super smart dog that could talk. In this film, he's a normal dog and only gains the ability to talk during the credits.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Claw gets his hands on the technology used to make Inspector Gadget and uses it to build an evil, completely robotic Gadget, built to cause destruction and chaos? It's a premise that could make for a legitimately interesting and entertaining movie. The film we got... was neither.

** Creator/RichardEpcar provided [=ADR=] for this film. Years before and after it, he voiced in ''Anime/LupinIII'', which served as an inspiration for the cartoon.

* WhatAnIdiot: Not from Gadget, but instead from Scolex, who went out of his way to build a robotic version of Brenda who was programmed with a MotorMouth for reasons we dare not explore. She ends up blabbing everything to the real Brenda without a second thought.

** Practically the entire cast has been hit with this, with Rupert Everett and Matthew Broderick arguably being hit the hardest for their roles as Claw and Gadget, respectively. A less egregious case comes with Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny, who despite not being blonde at least attempts to make the most of the limited screentime she is afforded.

** The entire plot hinging on the theft of a ''very'' life-like robotic foot may have some wondering if somebody behind the scenes had an unhealthy foot fetish going on.

* NightmareFuel:
** Artemis Bradford's murder. We don't see it, but we see ''some'' sort of gun fire at him, and we get a GoryDiscretionShot of what it actually did to him.
** Gadget with all of his robotic parts exposed.
** The tarantula coming out of Robo Gadget.
** The guru's eyes ''popping out of his head'' when Gadget grabs the wrong set of balls.

* HarsherInHindsight: Watching Artemis Bradford get zapped to death can be hard to watch today after his actor Rene Auberjonois passed away in 2019.

* BrokenBase: The fans are divided between those who despised the first film for not being close enough to the cartoons, those who hated the second film for not being enough like the first, people who hated both and prefer to stick to the cartoons, and the people who liked both films. All of the above is ''without'' taking onto consideration the people who liked either of the movies, but disliked the cartoons.

* FirstInstallmentWins: While it isn't a good movie, it is loved by fans of late 1990s culture.

** Robo-Brenda's entire appearance. She only shows up in a couple of scenes where Brenda encounters her in Scolex's building, spouts some brief exposition about being cloned from the robotic foot stolen from Artemis Bradford, and then jumps off a rooftop and is never sceen again (besides one of the m-credits scenes).