Agent Crush is a spy spoof featuring a robot secret agent out to stop a flatulent supervillain from destroying the world, in a story told through the magic of SuperMarionation!
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, SuperMarionation was a process created by British TV producer Gerry Anderson (The Thunderbirds; Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons) for many of his series aimed at children. They combined puppet characters equipped with electronic mouth controls with intricate mechanical special effects and miniature works. Agent Crush's puppets don't quite have the aesthetic appeal of Anderson's (to be honest, most of them are pretty ugly), but that's part of the charm of this quirky movie.
Crush is an android security agent who is more Maxwell Smart than James Bond - not that he's aware of it. His many screw-ups lead to the world security agency that commissioned him to order his destruction. But he is saved from "death" by a freak blackout engineered by his nemesis, Boris Goudphater (pronounced "Good-Farter") and gets a second chance to prove himself. With the help of the kindly scientist who created him and the scientist's gung-ho daughter, he saves the world and ends the threat of Goudphater.
Pretty standard stuff, but the story is elevated by the adult humor (although there's nothing on the gross-out level of the similarly themed Team America: World Police) and over-the-top voice acting.
Ioan Gruffudd (who played Reed Richards in two Fantastic Four movies) plays a deadpan, emotionally-stunted Agent Crush who manages a lot of subtlety with restrained inflection. Goudphater is played by the master of bombast himself BRIAN BLESSED (yes, you must spell it with all capitals). Brian Cox plays the scientist Dr. Spanner with Neve Campbell as his daughter. Danny Glover chews the scenery to Gary Busey levels as a crazed army major who wants to see Crush recycled. And former James Bond, Roger Moore, plays the head of the world security agency.
That this is an homage to Gerry Anderson is obvious from the moment you see the sign for "Meddings Junkyard. (Derek Meddings was Anderson's long-time special effects master, who later won two Academy Awards for his effects work, including one for Moonraker.) Crazy cool vehicles (an Anderson hallmark) from cars to spacecraft, abound in this movie and the action pieces are built around them.
The budgetary restrictions are visible in locations - mostly in multiple re-used effects shots in the climactic chase scene, and some of the voicework could have used a little re-tooling, but the movie is fun and entertaining, especially if you were a fan of what inspired it.
