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Movie:		4.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		7.0
Extras:		6.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	Harald Zwart
Writer(s):	Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Steve Martin
Starring:	Alfred Molina • Andy Garcia • Emily Mortimer • Jean Reno • John Cleese • Steve Martin • Jeremy Irons • Lily Tomlin • Aishwarya Rai • Yuki Matsuzaki
Genre:	Action • Adventure • Children & Family • Comedy
Release Date:	June 23, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	Blu-ray - $26.99
Amazon:

I didn’t cringe once during Pink Panther 2. Of course, I was lying down on the couch at the time so it’s possible my body wasn't able to contort correctly in response to the pitiful display of humor exhibited in this film. In this second outing, Steve Martin continues to careen downwards as the reincarnation of Peter Sellers's celebrated creation. Although the most basic elements of the previous film are referenced they are not required viewing to understand or rather suffer through the sequel. This is a film that assembles a choice ensemble of reliable actors and then squanders them in painfully unfunny situations. They are led by Martin as the hellish ringleader, so focused on his own physical comedy (which he does admittedly well) that he neglects the rest of the film, which ultimately falls victim to a meager plot and an acute lack of jokes. Every role in this film is a thankless one, most of all your own, as the unfortunate viewer.

I’ll attempt to summarize the plot briefly without any spoilers so as to contain the one or two twists which the film meekly pushes onto center stage near its end. Inspector Jacques Clouseau (Steve Martin) is back on the streets after recovering the priceless Pink Panther diamond from someone in the first film. Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese, almost in tears at one point) orders Clouseau to parking ticket duty; but when a variety of priceless international treasures are stolen by the infamous "Il Tornado", Clouseau is drafted into an international detective Dream Team, which includes Randall Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), Vicenzo (Andy Garcia, hamming it up with an overdone Italian accent), and Kenji Mazuto (Yuki Matsuzaki of The Last Samurai and Letters from Iwo Jima). With the help of trusty Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno, inexplicably reprising his straight man role from the first film) and Clouseau’s assistant/romantic interest Nicole (Emily Mortimer, lovely as ever), Clouseau springs into action.

In the meantime, Jeremy Irons and Lily Tomlin make cameo appearances and Tomlin’s becomes an excruciating running joke. The beautiful Aishwarya Rai, here as a writer with a wealth of knowledge of "Il Tornado", joins the team as they travel from France to Rome and back. Director Harald Zwart knows his way around a scene and brings a certain candied decadence to his picturesque scenes. Paris is especially shot with postcard-like accuracy while Rome abounds with rural roads and show-stopping mansions. Unfortunately, whatever beauty the film has to offer visually takes a back seat to a variety of thinly connected slapstick gags featuring Clouseau.

As one of the three screenwriters on the film, Steve Martin keeps the story grounded in clichés, bare-boned and inoffensive. The film’s greatest insults may be Clouseau referring to Kenji as “my little yellow friend,” which is followed by a scene where Tomlin, carrying the PC torch of the film, chides Martin. If the racist remark is played for shock value or laughs, the explanation following it nullifies the point. Clouseau doesn’t come off as a French policeman but rather a boorish American pulling off a convincingly over-the-top French accent. The film bends backwards to maintain Martin as a main character, even as the rest of the detective team proves to have more personality, underwritten as they are. Pink Panther 2 is devoid of substance as a film, succeeding neither as a mystery nor a slapstick farce.

The Blu-ray transfer is nice to look at it even if it’s nothing special, picture and sound being completely serviceable but not outstanding.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

Included is a gag reel of around 3 and a half minutes and two featurettes, "Drama is Easy, Comedy is Dangerous" and "A Dream Team Like No Other", documenting the slapstick stunts and working with the underused cast. What makes the Blu-ray edition somewhat valuable is the inclusion of a third disc featuring 27 of the original Pink Panther cartoons, any individual one of them featuring more wit on display than both Panther films combined.