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In the
picture
Pink Panther 2**
*ing Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina and Yuki Matsuzaki
Directed by Harald Zwart
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The
Tornado is back and he has stolen priceless artefacts from three
major cities of the world, from the original Magna Carta, the Shroud
of Turin to the Imperial Sword in Kyoto. The rare and priceless
Pink Panther diamond also gets stolen (also the Pope's ring, later
in the film).
The international police force is hurriedly mobilized and a dream
team of experts is put together to investigate the thefts, recover
the treasures and capture the mysterious man who is the Tornado.
From France, Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is requested to be
part of the team much to Chief Inspector Dreyfus' (John Cleese)
chagrin. And so Clouseau returns to this case, once again proving
to be the accident prone, bumbling idiot that he is while once again
solving the case at the end of the day. Alfred Molina, who plays
the British Investigator on the Dream Team, ends up roaming around
in a ballerina's tutu, which is what he repetitively says he will
do "if Clouseau solves the case'.
There are moments of retired humour, but if this story seems tired
and lacking any originality, then that is exactly what Pink Panther
2 is. The film rehashes a lot of humour from the last film in another
attempt to bring back some flavour from the original Blake Edwards
franchise from the sixties, and hardly offers anything new in doing
so. It is an exhausted and expired story line with equally lacklustre
and predictable performances by Steve Martin and Jean Reno, who
reprise their original roles, as well as Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina
and Yuki Matsuzaki, who are the most unimpressive investigative
experts around. The Dream Team is really anything but. One doesn't
really sit down to watch a Pink Panther film for its intellect of
story telling, but when one can pinpoint the criminal in the first
twenty minutes of the film as well as pre-empt the jokes, then something
is definitely not right. |
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A
lot of people will be watching Pink Panther 2 for the appearance
that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan makes. But one would rather stick
to memories of Ash in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam for she is wasted
in the film and in turn she once again wastes an opportunity
to establish herself as an actor of any genuine international
merit. The role of femme fatale that Aishwarya undertakes,
was portrayed by Beyonce in the last film (2006). And while
Beyonce is not an actor, she did fit the bill as a sexy and
wily villain. Aishwarya in the same shoes is contrite, forced
and fake. She is a bit too self-conscious about her appearance
and elocution all way through. She is required to be sexy
but cannot help being the Bachchan bahu even in Hollywood.
What's strange is that while the other four experts are clearly
defined by origin - Britain, Italy, Japan and France - this
last minute addition of Sonia Solandres (Aishwarya) has no
defined origin. She looks and sounds Indian but it is never
confirmed in the film. For once, being Indian in underplayed. |
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The supremely popular franchise of Pink Panther films, originally
from Blake Edwards with Peter Sellers in the role of Jacques Couseau,
was brought back in 2006. It was the classic case of repackaging
a popular product to milk it some more; something one has also seen
happening with superhero films and more pertinently, James Bond.
But what Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers did for Pink Panther, director
Shawn Levy could not do. Steve Martin was also condemned as someone
who had brought shame to Sellers' brilliance. As no one has been
able to step into Sean Connery's shoes for James Bond, Steve Martin
also does not do justice to the character that Sellers' perfected.
Moreso, Pink Panther 2 is directed by Harald Zwart, the man responsible
for Agent Cody Banks (2003) and One Night at McCool's (2001), and
he proves himself just as disastrous with directing Pink Panther
2. The only redeeming factor of the film is Henry Mancini's marvellous
opening theme, which unfortunately leaves nothing to be desired
after the first ten minutes.
To be fair, there are moments that one begrudgingly smiles at: Clouseau's
entry to the crime scene and his observation that every piece of
broken glass bears fingerprints (which are his own), the scene with
the poor Pope, and that's about it. The rest of the film is more
painful than funny. As with the James Bond franchise, Pink Panther
too should either be reinvented totally or scrapped completely.
Let it rest in peace.
– Aamna Haider Isani
*YUCK
**WHATEVER
***GOOD
****SUPER
*****AWESOME
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