Martin’s Panther lacks comedic teeth

By Mohamed Omar

Director Harald Zwart was responsible for Agent Cody Banks. Zwart also directed One Night at McCool’s. Instead of just leaving the world to be with those two awful films, he went and directed the dismal Pink Panther 2.


It’s been three years since we’ve last seen Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin), “the greatest detective in the world” according to the French public. Yet now he gives parking fines to people as a living. Lo and behold, the evil Tornado begins stealing almost every precious artifact in the world and the international community puts together a “dream team” of detectives from different countries to stop him. Their leader? The cunning Clouseau of course! With the help of his shy girlfriend Nicole (Emily Mortimer) and his friend/partner/protege/roommate Ponton (Jean Reno), he quickly makes an ass out of himself in front of everyone and begins unravelling the mystery of the Tornado thief, who has stolen pretty much everything from the Pink Panther diamond to the Pope’s ring.


New to the sequel are Italian and British detectives Vicenzo Brancaleone (Andy Garcia) and Randall Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), respectively. They play relatively minor parts in the film and ultimately serve as challengers to Clouseau. The real fun begins when the “criminology expert” Sonia (Aishwarya Rai) comes in. Sonia just happens to have done a four-year research project on the Tornado and knows everything about him, making for an awful plot device.


As far as the plot goes, the most interesting thing that happens is Clouseau dressing up as the Pope and falling off the balcony. It lacks humour, but the sound of Clouseau bouncing off a pole may wake the audience up from their boredom-induced stupor.


Regardless if it is intended for younger audiences or not, a terrible plot, average acting and extremely childish jokes and gestures make this movie an exception to illegal downloading.