On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 63/82 |
Kelly Metz |
Another needless sequel. |
One of Steve Martin’s next films features a stunning cast, to say the least. It includes him, John Cleese, Andy Garcia, Alfred Molina, Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer. Sounds like a winner, no? Well, the film would be if it weren’t for one tiny thing: It’s titled The Pink Panther 2.
Quite frankly, you’d be hard pressed to really find anyone that asked for a follow up to The Pink Panther, released in 2006. That film, which re-launched the franchise popularized by Peter Sellers in the '60s and '70s, earned a better than expected $82 million, including more than $20 million in its first weekend. But even with that kind of box office, The Pink Panther couldn’t escape the critics, who labeled the film generally unfunny and named Martin a mere imitator of Sellers.
Even so, Martin will reprise his role as the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, whose investigations are notoriously chaotic and foiled by his own incompetent actions. In this one, the panther is pegged to join forces with detectives from other European countries in a quest to hunt down the cat burglar.
Save for Shopgirl in 2005, as of late Martin continues to star in these dreadful and simplistic family comedies that further distance himself from the characters that fueled his career post-SNL, like Navin R. Johnson in The Jerk, Neal Page in Planes, Trains & Automobiles and even Stanley Banks in Father of the Bride. Besides The Pink Panther and its eventual sequel, Martin has appeared in Cheaper by the Dozen, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and Bringing Down the House, just to name a few.
And to no one’s surprise, all were critically panned.
So, The Pink Panther 2 won’t be breaking that sorry string anytime soon. Let’s just hope The Pink Panther 3, or Cheaper by the Dozen 3 for that matter, also aren’t in the cards. (Eric Hughes/BOP)
Vital statistics for The Pink Panther 2 |
| Main Cast |
Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese |
| Supporting Cast |
Aishwarya Rai, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Emily Mortimer, Yuki Matsuzaki, Molly Sims |
| Director |
Harald Zwart |
| Screenwriter |
Babaloo Mandel, Lowell Ganz |
| Distributor |
Columbia Pictures, MGM |
| Screen Count |
3,243 |
|
Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
|
|
|
|
|
