DVD Review by Peter Veugelaers ©
2009
Am I the only
reviewer who likes this film? Steve Martin has certainly been underrated
in his reprisal of the character Peter Sellers made famous. Watch Martin
in this physical comedy and you’ll reminisce about Buster Keaton.
In fact the whole Martin package since around the
early nineties has been woefully mistreated comparing his renaissance to
the so called better days between 1979’s The Jerk and about ten
years later.
It appears that critical snobbery has got the
better of us when take a closer look at this Panther sequel (after
2006’s) and the evidence is clear from the beginning that what the
audience should expect is over-the-top. Pure comedy fantasy is the order
of the day which is better than 2006’s adding much more to its
smorgasbord of humor while maintaining its pleasing thematic pulse all
put together with the best of light touches.
It comes in plenty of outlandish gags, done for a
laugh, and a more than welcome cameo performance from Lily Tomlin as an
etiquette instructor and a wonderful supporting cast – Jean Reno, Emily
Mortimer, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina and Aishwarya Rai – whom all get
what this is supposed to be about and play it with enough exaggeration
and panache to make the audience know this is a lot of fun.
The story is good as well centering on why certain
treasures are being stolen so an international elite dream team is set
up along with fumbling Inspector Clousseau played by Martin to nail it.
Along the way there’s plenty of divertive good
natured humor including tasteful excursions at a French restaurant and
the Vatican. Jeremy Irons pokes his head in with a welcome performance
as a suspect. I expected more from the final turning point however the
movie is brimming with comic attitude enough to work very well.
EN 5 Second Review:
This movie is not better that the first Martin version,
which was not very good either.
'The
Pink Panther 2' too funny
Gary Wolcott: Tri-City Herald
Though it isn’t likely to end up on anyone’s best list,
after a long week of financial worries, children worries, job worries,
The Pink Panther 2 hits all the right notes and is an excellent
90-minute escape...more
Kids
will love it, but this 'Panther' has drifted far from the
smart farce it once was
Pete Hammond: Hollywood.com
It’s been 45 years
since Peter Sellers was unleashed as the bumbling Inspector
Clouseau in the delicious Pink Panther. That 1963
film spawned numerous sequels and cartoons, and in 2006 the
baton was passed to Steve Martin -- who hatched a worldwide
hit with his version of the French detective....more
