DVD Review: The Pink Panther 2

I'll be among the first to admit that I'm a huge fan of Steve Martin. His intelligent, yet zany gift for acting, comedy, and slapstick makes him unique. I'll also be the first to admit that his first Pink Panther (2006) wasn't that great a film. It had its moments, but never really worked for me.

So when I had a chance to review Pink Panther 2, I hesitated. However, it has such a great cast that I had to see how it turned out. And I'm glad I did. I actually liked it a lot more than the first one.

Pink Panther 2 picks up awhile after the first movie ends. Chief Inspector Dreyfus (played beautifully by John Cleese) has assigned Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) to issuing parking tickets. Since Clouseau stole the credit for saving the Pink Panther diamond from Dreyfus, the Chief Inspector has worked hard to keep the bumbling Inspector out of his way. Unfortunately for Dreyfus, Clouseau is requested to become part of a "dream team" of international detectives working to stop a series of high profile thefts around the world by a thief known as "The Tornado."

To find these artifacts (the Magna Carta, the Shroud of Turin, an ancient Samurai sword, the Pope's ring, and the Pink Panther diamond), the dream team investigates the site of the most recent theft (the diamond) and begin piecing together what The Tornado is up to. Inspector Vicenzo (Andy Garcia) from Italy; Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge (Alfred Molina) from the New Scotland Yard; Kenji Mazuto (Yuki Matsuzaki) from Japan; and Sonia Solandres (Aishwarya Rai), a biographer of The Tornado, work with Clouseau to solve the case. Of course, it's not that simple. Clouseau manages to bumble his way through crime scenes, interviews, press encounters, and so on, but eventually the case is solved.

Along the way we encounter Mrs. Berenger (the always amazing Lily Tomlin), who acts as the political correctness advisor for the French Police. She and Clouseau have some highly amusing scenes where we learn more of the Inspector's way of looking at the world.  Some of the better scenes between the two include a hilarious one about sexual harassment and another about racial discrimination. Tomlin and Martin haven't worked together since 1984's All of Me, but the give-and-take relationship between them is still apparent.

Article Author: Fitz

Brian Fitzpatrick (aka "Fitz") is a software engineer and writer living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his wife, two daughters, two dogs, and two cats -- trying desperately to survive the chaos!

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