Seen on: February 7, 2009

The players: Director: Harald Zwart, Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Steve Martin, Cast: Steve Martin, Aishwarya Rai, Andy Garcia, John Cleese, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno

Facts of interest: Zwart also directed "Agent Cody Banks."

The plot: Inspector Clouseau is assigned to lead a team of detectives trying to track down a thief who stole precious treasures, including the Pink Panther diamond.

Our thoughts: “The Pink Panther 2” is just as worse as its disastrous predecessor. Nope, Steve Martin is still not funny as Jacques Clouseau, and yes, the script is still incredibly amateurish and utterly boring. Indeed, if you cherish your money, don’t waste it on this sequel.

This time, Inspector Clouseau’s mission is to find a mysterious thief who stole a bunch of priceless treasures from around the world, including the beautiful Pink Panther diamond. Accompanying Clouseau is a team of famous detectives who can’t quite get accustomed to the inspector unconventional methods and very particular sense of humor.

Just like 2006’s “The Pink Panther,” this sequel spends an awful lot of time trying to be funny but unsurprisingly failing to do exactly that. The jokes are bad, the dialogue stinks, and most of the slapstick humor you’ll come across in the film is just plain embarrassing and monotonous.

Steve Martin hasn’t done anything worth mentioning in quite a while, and his performance as Clouseau hasn’t improved since his previous failed attempt to be funny. I really couldn’t help but roll my eyes every time he opened his mouth, torturing me with that horrid French accent.

Other than that, I really don’t have much else to say about this waste of time. At 92 minutes, it’s still too long, and the plot’s few action scenes aren’t the least bit exciting. A boring story with boring characters and lame comedy don’t exactly make for an appealing cinematic experience.

Freaky quote: “Let me bring you up to speed. We know nothing. You are now up to speed." – Steve Martin.

The final word: Believe it or not, there are three things I like about “The Pink Panther 2”: the opening title sequence, the title song, and the beauty of Aishwarya Rai. Alas, that’s by far not enough to make me appreciate or enjoy this mess of a movie. Unless you think Steve Martin is the world’s greatest comedian, stay away from this one.

Article by Franck Tabouring