John Brown is a bumbling but well-intentioned security guard who is badly injured in an explosion. He is taken into a laboratory, at which a top robotics surgeon, Brenda, simplifies his limbs with tools and state-of-the-art gadgets. Named"Inspector Gadget" by the media, John -- along with his niece, Penny, and her trusty dog, Brain -- uses his new powers to discover who was behind the explosion.