The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American action comedy film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Pantherfilm 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 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. Beyoncé did not return for the sequel. Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki and Alfred Molina round out the cast as detectives, Italian Inspector Vincenzo 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 master thief “The Tornado” steals priceless artifacts from around the world, the French government assembles a “Dream Team” of detectives to solve the case. Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the detectives in Japan, site of the Tornado's latest heist. At the airport, as soon as he leaves the borders of France, news breaks that the Pink Panther diamond has been stolen, prompting Clouseau to gloat that his presence has kept the diamond safe. Clouseau joins the other members of the Dream Team: Detective Randall Pepperidge, from Great Britain; Vincenzo, from Italy; Kenji, an electronics specialist from Japan; and Sonia Solandres, a researcher and criminology expert from India. They go to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda. Assuming he is the Tornado, the Dream Team question him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda demonstrates that he lacks a bullet-wound the Tornado received years ago; after the detectives leave, he meets with the real Tornado. That night, Clouseau and his partner Ponton spy on Avellaneda at a restaurant using an audio bug. The mission is compromised when they find Vincenzo and Nicole, Clouseau's girlfriend, together at the restaurant. Banned from the restaurant for burning it down months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and switches the bug to Nicole's table, burning down the restaurant again in the process. Meanwhile, The Tornado steals the Pope's ring, turning 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. Clouseau is called to an office to find the Tornado has killed himself, leaving a suicide note that claims he destroyed the Pink Panther – considering it so beautiful that he could not allow anyone else to own it – and left the other treasures to be recovered. Examining a key found in the Pope's Chambers, the Dream Team match the dead man's DNA with DNA recovered from when the Tornado was shot, and believe they have solved the case; Clouseau is unconvinced. A celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor. Uninvited, Clouseau discovers a clue from the license plate of Sonia's car and calls Ponton. He tries to tell Dreyfus the real thief is still at large, but is ignored. Dreyfus announces to the group that Clouseau believes Sonia was the thief, and the detectives jokingly work out a plausible explanation: as the Tornado's ex-lover, she would have in-depth knowledge of his methods, and could have drawn attention to the thefts of the other artifacts, leaving her free to sell the Pink Panther. Nicole, realizing Clouseau could be correct, asks Sonia to empty her purse. Sonia pulls out a gun, threatening to shoot Nicole, and shoots Clouseau but the bullet ricochets off his Légion d'honneur medal. A chase ensues, with all members of the Dream Team but Clouseau making fools of themselves through various accidents caused by Clouseau's clumsiness. Cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther and, goaded by Clouseau, she does. Attempting to escape, she is knocked out by Ponton and arrested. Clouseau reveals that Sonia destroyed a fake gem, as Clouseau kept the real diamond in his possession, having switched them at the museum before leaving France. The Tornado, an expert on gems, would have recognized the Pink Panther to be a fake; therefore, his suicide note was forged and he was murdered. Clouseau reveals that he had ticketed Sonia's car two days before the Pink Panther was stolen – contradicting her alibi of being delayed to the original crime scene by her flight – which revealed to him that Sonia was the culprit. Dreyfus tries to claim credit for having appointed Clouseau to his parking job which Clouseau, remembering Dreyfus told him to deny this to anyone who asked, rebukes. Clouseau marries Nicole in a ceremony officiated by Dreyfus and attended by the Dream Team, ending in chaos when a security camera is destroyed by a champagne cork, summoning the Black Berets. Clouseau and Nicole leave for their honeymoon as the animated Pink Panther watches, before closing the doors and winking at the camera.
The Pink Panther 2 received worse reviews from critics than the original. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 13% based on 134 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, the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Box office
The Pink Panther 2 grossed $35.9 million in North America and $40 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $75.9 million, against a budget of $70 million. The film made $11.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2009, and only opened on #8.
