The Pink Panther 2 (2009)I went into the cinema expecting something extremely similar to the first and thought I might as well just enjoy it and not take it too seriously. If you disliked the first (to an extent, like myself) then you probably won't like this either. But the film is good fun and mindless entertainment for an hour and a half. The plot is very interesting with the "Dream Team" storyline and I didn't find it too predictable.
CastSteve Martin as Clouseau isn't really given any more depth than he had in the first one but I guess that's not really expected. He's still entertaining and different from Sellers - I'd rather Martin did a fresh approach to the character without being a replica of Sellers. But it was nice to get some links back to the old movies with "
My little yellow friend" Martin is amusing in his delivery especially with lines liek "
I wooooouldn't dooooo that" and when he's checking out the women in the hall "
Nooo I deeedn't"
Jean Reno/Emily Mortimer - Reno is always a joy to watch although in this he doesn't feature in as many gags as he did at the start. Mortimer is given a bit more depth and the love-story between Vincenzo & Nicole made for interesting watching.
John Cleese - I'm a huge Cleese fan anyway so to see him as my favourite PP character was good. We only see one moment of him showing the crazy side to the character and he seems a bit more reserved in his madness than Lom's version. Either way his scenes are usually quite good and it was good casting. I'd rank him alongside Kevin Kline's Dreyfus because both are very entertaining in the role, Lom is still top though. Favourite scene's with Dreyfus are the opening pre-title scene and also the raid on the office at the end with Cleese shouting "
Hamburger!"
Andy Garcia/Yuki Matsuzaki/Alfred Molina - All of three of the Dream Team are reasonably interesting character. The scene with Pepperidge and Clouseau's decduction skills is quite funny but it's really Molina's biggest scene. Garcia pretty much sleepwalks through the movie but again it's nice to see him in it.
Lily Tomlin/Jeremy Irons - Both nice additions to the cast. Tomlin for comedic value as the political correctness coach and Jeremy Irons as the main suspect.
Aishwarya Rai - I didn't really get the hype over Rai and still don't really. She wasn't very impressive in this and her acting was worse than Beyonce's IMO.
Molly Sims - Well I was looking for her but couldn't see her, maybe I was zoned out lol
LocationsThe Paris ones are similar to TPP06 and are fantastic, as were the ones in Rome and Avellaneda's house.
Music Nothing particularly that stood out for me, it was all very similar to TPP06.
The TitlesI'd say these are actually my least favourite of all the Panther titles. I just found them very generic and a bit dull.
HighlightsThe scene where we're watching Clouseau through Avellaneda's security systems as he searches the grounds
Cleese's first scene before the titles with Geoffrey Palmer. Dreyfus smashing his head then coming back all calm and collected.
The raid on the offices and "
Damberger" scene
Lily Tomlin's scenes as Mrs. Berenger
Clouseau as the Pope at the Vatican
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The Wedding with Nicole and Clouseau was a part that I really didn't think was that necessary, I don't mind as long as they don't introduce baby Clouseaus.
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Lowpoints The fight between Clouseau and the kids.
I'd also agree with BC007 about the shampoo scene.
The parking ticket scene at the start
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New Ranking1. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
2. Revenge of the Pink Panther
3. Return of the Pink Panther
4. The Pink Panther (1963)
5. A Shot in the Dark
6. Inspector Clouseau
7. The Pink Panther (2006)
8. The Pink Panther 2
9. Curse of the Pink Panther
10. Trail of the Pink Panther
11. Son of the Pink Panther