It’s been a long time (the 1980s, maybe?) since either Cleese or Martin was actually funny, but the director, Harald Zwart, compounds this by displaying zero sense of comedy, employing laboured visual gags and routines with no punch lines.
The Pink Panther 2 (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:127
Fresh:16
Rotten:111
Average Rating:3.5/10
Consensus: Underutilizing its talented cast, The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags.
Runtime: 4 hrs 23 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:13-02-2009
Synopsis: With 2009’s THE PINK PANTHER 2, Steve Martin once again dons the mantle of the giddily absurd Inspector Clouseau. This time, the bumbling French lawman, relieved of meter-maid duty, attempts to... With 2009’s THE PINK PANTHER 2, Steve Martin once again dons the mantle of the giddily absurd Inspector Clouseau. This time, the bumbling French lawman, relieved of meter-maid duty, attempts to track down a bold thief known as the Tornado, who makes off with many of the world’s cultural treasures, including the Magna Carta, the Shroud of Turin, and, of course, the Pink Panther Diamond. Aiding Clouseau is a team of international investigators, most notably a Brit (Alfred Molina) and an Italian (Andy Garcia), all of whom get to marvel at his unfiltered silliness. While this second installment of the PINK PANTHER series reboot features some changes to the creative team, with director Harald Zwart (AGENT CODY BANKS) replacing Shawn Levy and John Cleese stepping in for Kevin Kline as the sourpuss Chief Inspector Dreyfus, the movie reunites Martin with the always-likeable actors Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer. Also joining the ensemble cast are Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jeremy Irons, and Martin’s old comrade Lily Tomlin, making this sequel quite crowded with top-notch talent. Though the film itself doesn’t live up to its potential--the Clouseau role is still securely owned by the late, great Peter Sellers--it offers up plenty of chuckle-inducing moments as Martin hams it up with grand mispronunciations and gleeful slapstick. [More]
Starring: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia
Starring: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Emily Mortimer, Aishwarya Rai, Jeremy Irons, John Cleese, Lily Tomlin
Director: Harald Zwart
Director: Harald Zwart
Screenwriter: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Steve Martin
Story: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Producer: Robert Simonds
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: MGM
Reviews for The Pink Panther 2
The producers appear to believe that farce (that most delicate of genres) is humour played with the utmost crudity.
This revisiting of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau catapults Martin so far beyond the pale of authentic comedy that there can be no hope of return.
There is something depressingly old hat about the slapstick in The Pink Panther 2, a movie whose target audience appears to be tiny tots and those with a high tolerance for jokes about people falling over.
Steve Martin is back doing the fur-nay ack-saynt (now increasingly eun-fur-nay); and with this film he's very much channelling the spirit of the final Panther movies from the original series, when Peter Sellers had nothing to offer but despair.
I laughed more times than I thought I would so that is a big improvement on the previous film which almost made my toes curl. It will keep the kids quiet over half term and it won’t be the worst film you see this year.
The most casually catastrophic addition yet to the 45-year-old franchise.
Steve Martin again steps into Peter Sellers’s long-vacated shoes and finds his feet are so small he can’t stand up to original bungling French cop Inspector Clouseau.
A mirthless shot in the dark that misses the target by some distance.
Martin fumbles it from the off. And that, in a nutshell, is reason enough to avoid this as one might any other calamity.
Moronic, but even moronic humour can be passingly entertaining, in parts.
Cheap-looking, and peddling a humour that charitable folks will call broad and the rest of us will call unfunny, Pink Panther 2 may still appeal to audiences in non-English-speaking countries where physical comedy in the Mr Bean mould prospers.
2009 will struggle to produce another comedy quite as bad as The Pink Panther 2.
The animated title sequence is fun. Besides one set-piece involving a burning restaurant, the rest of the movie isn’t.
In the interests of full disclosure, the 2006 version of The Pink Panther ranks amongst my three most excruciating cinema experiences of all time. This sequel is no better.
A predictably woeful affair that achieves the not inconsiderable feat of being even more unbearable than its 2006 predecessor.
A comedy with no redeeming features that may be, in what is now a depressingly competitive field, Martin’s worst film to date.
Latest News for The Pink Panther 2
February 08, 2009:
While Martin's all purpose good cop/bad cop excels at flaunting his dark side when beating up children, burning down ritzy restaurants more than once, and ogling every woman in the vicinity, it's a tad too polite for audiences weaned on grossout. ![]()
More...
February 05, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Coraline Is Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we've got dark whimsy (Coraline, with voice work by Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher); love mishaps (He's Just Not That Into You, starring Jennifer... More...
February 05, 2009:
Box Office Guru Preview: Celeb Clan Takes on Pink Panther
Four new releases hit North American multiplexes on Friday setting up a pair of cinematic fights. The main event sees rival franchise comedies go at it for the number one spot... More...
February 05, 2009:
Total Recall: Steve Martin's Best Movies
It isn't the most highly anticipated sequel of the year, but The Pink Panther 2 opens this weekend, and in honor of Steve Martin's second turn as the... More...
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