Pink Panther 2

I'll admit I was very excited for Pink Panther 2 as I am a huge Steve Martin fan (probably from many viewings of Father of the Bride thanks to my sister and her control of the VCR as children. But I am a huge fan of the original remake of the Pink Panther as well as the originals (which I admit I am less familiar with but did view a few during my childhood as they were a part of the library collection that I was a frequent visitor to.

This movie however was a little bit of a letdown from my expectations (perhaps because I enjoyed the first one so much, or maybe it was just harder to recapture the magic of the first film in the sequel...as it often is in a sequel. I felt like this movie tried to capitalize on the success of bits in the first movie as well as had a little more in it to gear it toward a younger audience.

Aside from that I did find myself laughing thoughout the movie, there was plenty of physical humor and Martin's ridiculous French accent which provided for many verbal jokes and I still truly enjoyed much of the humor in this sequel, however it didn't pack as much punch as the first. It also had a slightly more predictable storyline, however I feel like this movie is made more about the comedy rather than the mystery and whodunnit elements.

John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline in the role of Cheif Inspector Dreyfus which took me a little bit too long to figure out that it was just an actor replacement and not a new character in the story. Once I figured that out I enjoyed Cleese in the role very much.

All in all, a very light-hearted movie that will provide you with plenty of laughs! But if I'm going to watch a Pink Panther movie multiple times it would be the first Steve Martin one or some of the originals.

3.5 stars

-Dav3