History Film / InspectorGadget1999

The movie opens with an origin story for the titular hero (Broderick). Originally a human security guard named John Brown, he dreams of one day being a respected police officer, though he is continually rejected due to his lack of experience. He also has designs on Brenda Bradford (Fisher), a scientist that works at the cybernetics lab he's employed for. After the lab creates a prototype for a computer chip that can control lifelike robotic limbs, Brown's life changes as CorruptCorporateExecutive Sanford Scolex (Everett) breaks into the lab, kills Brenda's father, and makes off with the prototype foot. When Brown pursues him, the resulting car chase ends with Scolex blowing up his car and leaving him with extensive tissue damage. In the aftermath, a bowling ball from Brown's car flies into the air and lands Scolex's on left hand, crushing it to pieces and leading to him getting a selection of cybernetic replacements. His favourite replacement [[RuleOfCool (because it looks cool)]] is a metallic crab-claw. He dubs himself "Claw." As for Brown, Brenda decides to make him the prototype for the "Gadget Program" and repairs his damaged body by converting him into a cyborg with numerous odd and zany functions--and his own talking wisecracking car the Gadgetmobile (voiced by Creator/DLHughley). Now dubbed "Inspector Gadget," he realizes his dream of joining the police force - though his generally goofy and awkward nature and lack of control over his new hardware makes him something of a walking disaster area. Meanwhile, Scolex still has designs on the technology that created him, as he plans to use it to build an unstoppable robot army to take over the world...

* DisabledInTheAdaptation: Despite the name, Dr. Claw doesn't actually have a claw, he just wears spike gauntlets. Here, he lives up to his namesake, having a claw replace his left hand after it's crushed.

* IAteWhat: Quimby has this reaction after drinking from the same coffee cup that a kitten had been drinking from.

* VentEscape: John enters Scolex's building through the vent system.

* FrameUp: Scolex creates an Robo-Gadget to terrorize Riverton and pin the blame on the real Gadget. Unfortunately for Scolex, [[spoiler:Quimby is convinced otherwise when Penny and Sykes tell them the truth]].

* HollywoodNerd: Gadget, Brenda.

*** Sykes reacts to the whole scene with a baffled "Huh?". Fitting as he's the only character in that scene [[CanonForeigner who didn't come from the cartoon]].

** The plot shares many similarities with Film/{{Robocop1987}}

* RepurposedPopSong: Youngstown's "I'll Be Your Everything," which existed before the film but still used a sample of the theme song for it's hook. A newer version was recorded for the movie, with more uses of the sample and lyrics alluding to the plot, as well as [[{{Bowdlerize}} some of the more suggestive lines removed]].

** Artemis has a quick moment of terror when he realizes that Scolex is going to kill him.

** Gadget has one when he unintentionally sets off the laboratory alarm at the worst possible time when he tries to recover the foot. Then, Sykes gets one when he wakes up to discover Gadget on the TV monitor. Gadget has another one seconds later when Sykes lowers the door to prevent him from escaping and when he encounters the robots that killed Artemis.

** During the end credits when the headless RoboGadget runs into the camera.

* Catchphrase: Wowser.

* RealityEnsues: Brown asks Chief Quimby when he'll be put on the big case. The chief assures him he has something for him to "cut [his] teeth on". Cut to a newspaper montage of Brown being a crossing guard and helping the sanitation department. Remember, Brown is a security guard who was rejected from the police academy early in the film, and is markedly incompetent even ''after'' being upgraded. In fact, it's the central joke of the character.

* DestroyTheProductPlacement: An early scene has Sykes crash Scolex's car into a Website/Yahoo billboard, causing it to topple onto them. A "Yahoo!" jingle even plays during the scene.

* DestroyTheProductPlacement: An early scene has Sykes crash Scolex's car into a Yahoo! billboard. A "Yahoo!" jingle even plays during the scene.

** YAHOOOOOO-OOO! ''That's right, Disney actually used the Yahoo yodel as the billboard falls on the limousine near the start of the film!''

* {{Fingore}}: Claw has the fingers of his right hand crushed early in the first film.

* GoodProstheticEvilProsthetic: Gadget has an entire cybernetic body stuffed with all manner of bells and whistles, yet it's otherwise indistinguishable from the human form. Meanwhile, Claw is mostly human, but has replaced his left hand with a sinister, ferocious-looking, stainless-steel pincer that's as much a weapon as an appendage.

* LeanAndMean: Claw hinmself, who as we find out was formerly a FatBastard.

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the JeopardyThinkingMusic ''Jeopardy!'' theme, during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil jewelry thieves.

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the [[JeopardyThinkingMusic
''Jeopardy!'' theme]], during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil jewelry thieves.

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the [[''Series/Jeopardy!'']] theme, during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil some jewelry thieves.

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the ''[[Series/Jeopardy!]]'' theme, during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil some jewelry thieves.

''[As hospital workers put the guru in an ambulance, with an ice pack on his crotch]''\\

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the ''Series/Jeopardy!'' theme, during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil some jewelry thieves.

* IdeaBulb: A literal one pops out of John's hat, with the first notes of the ''Jeopardy'' theme, during his training when he's thinking of what gadget to use to foil some jewelry thieves.