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The Pink Panther 2

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The Pink Panther 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHarald Zwart
Screenplay byScott Neustadter
Michael H. Weber
Steve Martin
Story byScott Neustadter
Michael H. Weber
Characters:
Maurice Richlin
Blake Edwards
Produced byRobert Simonds
StarringAnne Katarine
Steve Martin
Jean Reno
Alfred Molina
Emily Mortimer
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Andy García
Lily Tomlin
John Cleese
CinematographyDenis Crossan
Edited byJulia Wong
Music byChristophe Beck
Henry Mancini (Theme)
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)
Running time
92 minutes
CountriesTemplate:Film US
Template:Film France
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUnknown
Box office$75,946,615 [1]

The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American detective comedy film directed by Harald Zwart.[2] It is the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series.[3] The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America.[4] 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 M. Weber in November 2006.[3] Columbia Pictures, partnering with MGM on the sequel, hired the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to perform a further rewrite in January 2007.[5] 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 Aishwarya Rai 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. 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.

Like its predecessor, the sequel received negative reviews from critics and did a moderate business of $75,871,032 worldwide.[6]

Plot

When the master thief, the Tornado, begins stealing expensive artifacts (the Magna Carta in London, the Turin Shroud in Turin, and the Imperial Sword in Kyoto), the Government of France assembles a Dream Team of International Detectives to solve the case. Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus (John Cleese) to join the Dream Team in Japan, site of the Tornado's recent heist. At the airport, as soon as he is officially leaving France, news breaks that the Pink Panther Diamond has also been stolen. Clouseau travels back to the scene of the crime, where the other members of the Dream Team, Inspector Pepperidge (Great Britain), Vicenzo (Italy), Kenji (an electronics specialist from Japan), and Sonia (Aishwarya Rai)(a researcher and criminology expert from India), are gathering. They go to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda (Jeremy Irons), who deals with The Tornado. Assuming he is The Tornado, the Dream Team question him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda successfully vindicates himself by demonstrating that he lacks a bullet-wound to the right shoulder – the Tornado was shot in that shoulder during a theft over a decade ago. After they leave, Avellaneda meets with the Tornado himself (Johnny Hallyday).

Later on that night, Clouseau and his partner, Ponton (Jean Reno), spy on Avellaneda, using a bug they planted at the table they were sitting, as he takes a date out for dinner. Unfortunately, the mission is compromised when they find Vicenzo and Clouseau's love interest, Nicole (Emily Mortimer), together at the restaurant. Having been banned for burning down the restaurant three months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and attempts to switch the bug to Nicole's table. In the process, he ends up burning down the restaurant again, thanks to knocking down a flambe a waiter is holding. At the same time, The Tornado steals the Pope's ring, an act which begins to turn public opinion against the Dream Team. When Clouseau's acts of foolishness aggravate the situation, he is voted off the team, with only Sonia sympathizing with him. Shortly afterward, Clouseau is called to an office where they see the Tornado has killed himself, and left a suicide note claiming 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 successfully 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 in recovering the stolen items (minus the Pink Panther), a celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor. Clouseau, after seeing something on Sonia's car's licence plate, tries to convince Dreyfus that 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, works 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 plan. She would make the Tornado steal all the other artifacts so all attention would be drawn to him. Then, Sonia could set him up, make him come out of hiding, kill him, forge a suicide note, and keep the Pink Panther, which was the only fencible artifact as it was the only treasure that could be broken down and sold off as smaller items rather than in its most famous form. Nicole suddenly realizes that Clouseau's story may actually be feasible, prompting Nicole to ask Sonia to conclude the joke by showing the contents of her purse, Clouseau claiming that the Pink Panther is in her purse. Disgusted by this indirect accusation, Sonia attempts to leave the party. As Sonia tries to leave, Nicole again 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 he had received, ironically killing a waiter due to a ricochet. She then runs upstairs, with Clouseau and the rest of the Dream Team chasing her around the building, all but Clouseau making fools of themselves through various accidents caused by Clouseau's clumsiness.

Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther, and Clouseau successfully goads her to do so. Sonia is subsequently knocked out by Ponton when she tries to flee during the distraction caused by the Pink Panther's destruction. Clouseau reveals that she had destroyed a fake gem he had switched with the real one before his departure from France, and that the Tornado, a master thief and a recognized authority on valuable gems, would have recognized this; therefore, his suicide note—where he praised the beauty of the gem in his possession—was forged and he was actually murdered. He reveals that he had given Sonia's car a ticket one day 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, though the wedding is short-lived after Dreyfus fires the cork out of the Champagne bottle onto a security device, causing elite unit operatives to storm the party in a manner similar to an earlier event in the film. Clouseau and Nicole ditch the wedding and head for the airport for their honeymoon with the animated Pink Panther watching them leave. The film ends with the Pink Panther looking into the camera and winking as he walks into the chaotic wedding and closes the door.

Cast

Filming locations

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

Reception

Like its predecessor, the sequel has received generally negative reviews from critics.[7] As of June 12, 2011, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 12% of critics gave positive reviews based on 129 reviews, the consensus being "Underutilizing its talented cast, The Pink Panther 2 is little more than a series of lame slapstick gags".[8] Per another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received a 37% approval rating based on 28 reviews, as of February 7, 2009.[7]

On its opening weekend, the film opened #4, grossing $12 million in 3,243 theaters with a $3,573 average.[9] The film grossed $35,922,978 domestically and $39,948,054 in foreign countries totaling $75,871,032 worldwide.

The film received two Razzie Award nominations including Worst Actor (Steve Martin) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.

Home media

The Pink Panther 2 was released on June 23, 2009. About 362,900 DVD units have been sold so far, bringing in $6.3m in revenue.[10]

References

  1. ^ "The Pink Panther 2 (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
  2. ^ "Zwart to direct Pink Panther". Norway Post. May 27, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Dawtrey, Adam (November 14, 2006). "New Cash Stash for MGM". Variety. Cite error: The named reference "Variety" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Official web site
  5. ^ "Scribes adding color to 'Pink'". Hollywood Reporter. January 12, 2007.
  6. ^ "THE PINK PANTHER 2". Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  7. ^ a b "The Pink Panther 2 (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  8. ^ "The Pink Panther 2 Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster . Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  9. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 6–8, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  10. ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/PNKP2-DVD.php

Template:The Original Pink Panther Shorts

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