The Pink Panther 2

After the utterly forgettable remake of Blake Edwards' classic Pink Panther movie a few years ago it should come as no surprise that the Hollywood mediocrity machine has churned out an even more forgettable sequel. Completely devoid of laughs and filled with some of the most obvious and pedestrian slapstick gags ever committed to film, Pink Panther 2 should be avoided at all costs. Steve Martin reprises his role as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, and despite a long career filled with gags and pratfalls, Martin manages to sap all the laughs from this performance. The original Pink Panther movies were not an intellectual tour-de-force by any stretch of the imagination, but the late, great Peter Sellers' performance as Clouseau helped make the Panther movies into a classic comedy franchise enjoyed by young and old. Unfortunately, this current incarnation seems specifically geared toward brain-damaged eight-year-olds with short attention spans. The rudimentary story, shoehorned in between silly recurring gags, involves Inspector Clouseau's investigation of a series of high profile robberies perpetrated by his nemesis "The Tornado." Joined by an international dream team of detectives, Clouseau blunders his way through the investigation, insulting everyone, destroying evidence and beating up a few eight-year-old children in his spare time. The DVD features are as lacklustre as the film, with a gag reel of the actors flubbing scenes that weren't funny to begin with, a feature about performing physical comedy and a look at the cast that makes up the detective "Dream Team." As a long time fan of Steve Martin, Pink Panther 2 is a shocking disappointment even when compared to such bizarre missteps as Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Martin is one of the grandmasters of comedy and to watch him flounder his way through a sequel to an unnecessary reboot of a classic franchise and fail so miserably is sad and depressing, to say the least. Rent the original films and pretend this one doesn't exist.