The Pink Panther 2

The Pink Panther 2
File:Pink Panther 2poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harald Zwart
Produced by	Robert Simonds
Screenplay by	Steve Martin Scott Neustadter Michael H. Weber
Story by	Scott Neustadter Michael H. Weber
Based on	The Pink Panther by Blake Edwards Maurice Richlin
Starring	Steve Martin Jean Reno Alfred Molina Emily Mortimer Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Andy García Lily Tomlin John Cleese
Music by	Christophe Beck Henry Mancini (Theme)
Cinematography	Denis Crossan
Edited by	Julia Wong
Production company	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Robert Simonds Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States France
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Box office	$75.9 million

The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American mystery comedy film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series. The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. In the film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout a daring burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade of inactivity. Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau, originated by Peter Sellers, polished the original script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber in November 2006. MGM, partnering with Columbia Pictures on the sequel, hired the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to perform a further rewrite in January 2007. Principal photography began in Paris on August 20, 2007, then moved to Boston several weeks later, where filming ended on November 2, 2007.

Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appears as the criminology expert Sonia Solandres. John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus with Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprising their roles as Clouseau's partner Ponton and Clouseau's girlfriend Nicole. Beyonce Knowles did not return for the sequel. Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki and Alfred Molina round out the cast as detectives, Italian Inspector Vicenzo Brancaleone, Japanese Inspector Kenji Mazuto and British Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge. It was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 23, 2009.

Plot

When the master thief the Tornado steals expensive artifacts from around the world, France assembles a Dream Team of Amateur Detectives to solve the case. Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the Dream Team in Japan, site of the Tornado's recent heist. At the airport, as soon as he steps over the border and leaves France, news breaks that the Pink Panther Diamond has been stolen, prompting Clouseau, who had up to that point been wary of leaving, to say, "I told you". Clouseau travels back to the scene of the crime and joins the other members of the Dream Team: Inspector Pepperidge, from Great Britain; Vincenzo, from Italy; Kenji, an electronics specialist from Japan; and Sonia, a researcher and criminology expert from India. They go to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda, who deals with The Tornado. Assuming he is The Tornado, the Dream Team question him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda vindicates himself by demonstrating that he lacks a bullet-wound to the right shoulder that the Tornado suffered over a decade ago. After they leave, he meets with the real Tornado.

That night, Clouseau and his partner, Ponton, spy on Avellaneda, using a wire they planted on him, as he takes a date out for dinner. The mission is compromised when they find Vincenzo and Clouseau's girlfriend, Nicole, together at the restaurant. Having been banned for burning down the restaurant three months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and switches the wire to Nicole's table. In the process, he ends up burning down the restaurant again. At the same time, The Tornado steals the Pope's ring, an act which turns public opinion against the Dream Team. When Clouseau's acts of foolishness aggravate the situation, he is voted off the team; only Sonia sympathizes with him. Shortly afterward, Clouseau is called to an office where they see the Tornado has killed himself and left a suicide note that claims he destroyed the Pink Panther – regarding it as being so beautiful that he could not bring anyone other than himself to own it – and left the other treasures to be recovered. Examining a key they found in the Pope's Chambers, they match the DNA of the victim with DNA of the Tornado acquired when he was shot, and thus believe themselves to have solved the case. However, Clouseau is unconvinced and believes the Tornado was not the thief.

For their victory, a celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor. Clouseau, who was not invited, tells Dreyfus the real thief is still at large, but is ignored. Dreyfus relays to the group that Clouseau told him Sonia was the thief, and the group, treating the idea as a joke, work out a plausible explanation for how she could have done it; as the Tornado's ex-lover, she would have in-depth knowledge of his methods, and has set up a situation to draw all attention to the thefts of the other artifacts while leaving her free to sell the Pink Panther. As Sonia leaves, Nicole asks her to take everything out of her purse. Sonia pulls out a gun, and after initially threatening to shoot Nicole, she shoots Clouseau, but the bullet hits the medal of honor. After a chase, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther, and Clouseau goads her to do so. Clouseau reveals he exchanged the real gem with a fake, which the Tornado, an expert, would have known; therefore, his suicide note was forged, and he was murdered. He reveals that he had given Sonia's car a ticket two days before the Pink Panther was stolen, contradicting her alibi of having been delayed to the crime scene because of her flight. Dreyfus tries to claim credit for having appointed Clouseau to his parking job, but Clouseau, remembering Dreyfus told him to deny this to anyone who asked, rebukes the claim. Clouseau later marries Nicole with Inspector Dreyfus performing the ceremony.

The film ends with the wedding in complete chaos, with Clouseau and Nicole escaping as the animated Pink Panther watches; he then goes to close the doors and winks at the camera.

Cast

• Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau
  A clumsy police officer and now-recognized "Protector of the Pink Panther"
• Jean Reno as Gendarme Gilbert Ponton
  Clouseau's assistant and sidekick
• Emily Mortimer as Nicole Durant-Clouseau
  Clouseau's girlfriend and later wife
• Andy García as Vicenzo Brancaleone
  An Italian businessman who joins the Dream Team
• Alfred Molina as Randall Pepperidge
  A British inspector and deducer who joins the Dream Team and bets that if Clouseau solves the case, he will go around in a tutu for a day, which he does
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Sonia Solandres
  A criminology expert and the Tornado's old girlfriend, at the climax, she is revealed to have caused the thefts
• Yuki Matsuzaki as Kenji Mazuto
  A Japanese technology expert who joins the Dream Team
• John Cleese as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus
  Clouseau's boss who often gives him meaningless assignments to get him out of his hair, later performs the marriage ceremony for Nicole and Clouseau
• Lily Tomlin as Mrs. Yvette Berenger
  A manners teacher who is brought into the office, often calls in Clouseau to discuss his inappropriate suggestive manners
• Johnny Hallyday as Laurence Millikin
  The Tornado, killed by Sonia and framed for the thefts
• Jeremy Irons as Alonso Avellaneda
  a man the Dream Team checks out as the first suspect
• Geoffrey Palmer as Commissioner Joubert.
• Yevgeni Lazarev as The Pope

Release

The Pink Panther 2 was theatrically released on February 6, 2009 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 27, 2009 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment.

Soundtrack

• The Pink Panther Theme
• Habanera Para Baile
• Sonia's Love
• Finale in C Major
• Bridal Chorus

Filming locations

Paris, France, Boston, Bedford, Chelsea, Westwood, and Winchester, Massachusetts.

Reception

Like its predecessor, The Pink Panther 2 received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 12%, based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Underutilizing its talented cast, The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags". On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film received a score of 36 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film was nominated for two Razzies: Worst Actor (Steve Martin) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. On its opening weekend, The Pink Panther 2 opened at #4, grossing $12 million in 3,243 theaters with a $3,573 average. The film grossed $35.9 million domestically and $40 million in foreign countries totaling $75.9 million worldwide, against the film's $70 million budget.

See also

• List of The Pink Panther cartoons

External links

• Official website
• Sony Official Website
• The Pink Panther 2 at Box Office Mojo
• 20 Questions with Inspector Clouseau
• The Pink Panther 2 at IMDb
• The Pink Panther 2 at AllMovie
• The Pink Panther 2 Photo Call in Paris - Gallery