It’s quite possible that Steve Martin is the only comic who could resurrect this beloved franchise. After a mildly successful re-launch of this oft forgotten franchise, Martin & Co. return with The Pink Panther 2. Almost the entire cast from the original returns, the exception being Kevin Kline who is ably replaced by the immortal John Cleese.
The plot here is that Inspector Clouseau (Martin) is now a national hero in France due to his rescuing of the Pink Panther diamond in the first film. Still hated by his boss (Cleese), we find our hero relegated to a “secret mission”…traffic duty. At the request of an international board however, Clouseau is assigned to lead a team of the best detectives in the world, who are hunting a now famous cat burglar who has recently remerged and has stolen some of the world’s most precious treasures. Of course, Clouseau screws everything up in often hilarious ways. Only when he figures out who the culprit is though can he truly save the day, as he always does. Clouseau is the very definition of “a fine line between genius and madness.”
Martin is prefect for this role. For 2 he takes everything up a notch, making Clouseau more enduring but also making the physical comedy gags that much more impressive. There’s a lot more action than in the inaugural reboot and that helps the film move much faster, which makes it all the funnier in my opinion. Everyone is great here as a matter of fact and the fact that the arrogant team of international detectives “get theirs” makes it truly akin to the original cartoons and a warm testament to that ear of the 1900s.
The extras here are a lot better than most comedy DVDs I have seen lately. They really dig in to the aspects that make the film different from most of what’s out today. The comedic timing required to do the physical gags is unbelievably complex and it’s interesting to watch how it was all brought to the big screen. While The Pink Panther 2 breaks no new ground, if you enjoyed the first one, or the original franchise run for that matter, then you’ll certainly get a kick out of this one. Steve Martin is excellent and this film is great fun from start to finish.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
