The Pink Panther 2

The Pink Panther 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harald Zwart
Produced by	Robert Simonds Executive Producer: Shawn Levy Ira Shuman
Written by	Story: Scott Neustadter Michael H. Weber Screenplay: Scott Neustadter Michael H. Weber Steve Martin Characters: Maurice Richlin Blake Edwards
Starring	Steve Martin Jean Reno Alfred Molina Emily Mortimer Aishwarya Rai Andy García Yuki Matsuzaki Johnny Hallyday Lily Tomlin John Cleese Jeremy Irons
Music by	Christophe Beck Theme by: Henry Mancini
Cinematography	Denis Crossan
Editing by	Julia Wong
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures MGM
Release date(s)	February 6, 2009
Running time	92 min.
Country	United States France
Language	English
Budget	$85 million
Gross revenue	$75,871,032[1]
Preceded by	The Pink Panther (2006)
Followed by	The Pink Panther 3

The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 spy 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 the daring cat 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, Inspector Vicenzo Brancaleone, Inspector Kenji Mazuto and Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge. It will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 23, 2009.

[edit]Plot synopsis

When the master thief, the Tornado, begins stealing expensive artifacts (the Magna Carta in London, the Turin Shroud in Turin, and theImperial Sword in Kyoto), the Government of 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 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), Vincenzo (Italy), Kenji (an electronics specialist from Japan), and Sonia (a researcher and criminology expert from India), are gathering. 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 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, he meets with The Tornado himself.

Later on that night, Clouseau and his partner, Ponton, spy on Avellaneda, using a wire they have planted on him, as he takes a date out for dinner. Unfortunately, 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 attempts to switch 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 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, who was not invited, 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, 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 on the Pink Panther as the only treasure that could be cut up and sold on without suspicion. As Sonia tries to leave, 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. She then runs upstairs. Clouseau and the rest of the Dream Team chase her all around the building, while they all (except for Clouseau) make fools of themselves. Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther, and Clouseau successfully goads her to do so. Clouseau reveals that she had destroyed a fake gem he had switched with the real one, 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- was forged and he was actually 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.

[edit]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 Inspector Vicenzo Brancaleone - an Italian businessman who joins the Dream Team
• Alfred Molina as Chief Inspector 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 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 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.

[edit]Filming locations

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

[edit]

The film has received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics.^[6] As of June 14, 2009, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 12% of critics gave positive reviews based on 123 reviews.^[7] 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.^[6]

On its opening weekend, the film opened #4, grossing $12 million in 3,243 theaters with a $3,573 average.^[8] The film grossed $35,922,978 domestically and $39,948,054 in foreign countries totaling $75,871,032 worldwide.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "The Pink Panther 2 (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2009-04-03.
2. ^ "Zwart to direct Pink Panther". Norway Post. May 27, 2007.
3. ^ ^{a b} "New Cash Stash for MGM". Variety. November 14, 2006.
4. ^ Official web site
5. ^ "Scribes adding color to 'Pink'". Hollywood Reporter. January 12, 2007.
6. ^ ^{a b} "The Pink Panther 2 (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
7. ^ "The Pink Panther 2 Movie Reviews, Pictures". IGN Entertainment. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
8. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for February 6–8, 2009". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2009-02-08.