Why So Blu?

The Pink Panther 2 (Blu-ray Review)

I’m on a roll!  In one of my last reviews I mentioned that there were certain films I had no desire to see in my entire life.  The Pink Panther 2 was one of those films.  You gotta do what you gotta do.  In my defense, I love the animated series, considering it’s now an almost 50 year show.  Them, going live action with it made me cringe, but lessened somewhat when seeing that Steve Martin actually contributed to the screenplay.  I like Steve Martin’s writing.  Anyways, enough bantering, let’s get to the review.

Film 

All over the world valuable treasures are being stolen by someone who leaves a mysterious calling card signed as “The Tornado.”  It’s up to Inspector Jacques Clouseau to solve the case.  This is easier said than done.   Assisting Inspector Clouseau is a U.N. like team known as “The Dream Team.”  Call them forensic specialists of sorts if you will.  Together they will put all of their collective heads together to solve and retrieve these valuable items before it’s too late…or unless the clueless Clouseau messes it up for everyone else first.

Steve Martin, I am now convinced, was born to play the bumbling, sexist, Inspector Clouseau, I can’t picture anyone else in the role.  And for what it is, he pulls it off.  The Pank Panther 2, surprisingly, offers a pretty stellar ensemble cast.  Nicole played Emily Mortimer may or may not be Clouseau’s love interest.  If he can figure it out.  Vicenzo (Andy Garcia), Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), Kenji (Yuki Matsuzaki), and Sonia (Aishwarya Rai) complete The Dream Team.  And I would never have thought that Garcia and Molina had any kind of comedic chops, but found myself laughing at some of their antics.

The film shifts gears when the fabled but prized diamond of them all, The Pink Panther is stolen, from under all of their noses.  What will our trusted investigators do? You have to see for yourself.  This is a crime caper after and in the best interests of our readers, I cannot go further without possibly spoiling it for you.  Take my word for it.

Initially, I thought The Pink Panther 2 was going to be an incoherent slapstick type of a film.  I was kind of wrong on those counts.  There are tons of gags running through out the film that I lost count on.  From Clouseau’s intentionally faux French accent to Vicenzo’s exaggerated faux Italian accents, there’s no end to it.  I noticed that the film was rated PG and was kind of shocked, because there are certain scenes and dialogue that are pretty subversive, that made me laugh out, that I don’t think would be too appropriate for the kiddies.  It’s not a bad thing, but let’s hope the kids don’t ask a lot of questions.  I think the adults will enjoy this film more than kids.

If you can stomach the occasional “groan” scene, are a fan of some slapstick, or just plain nostalgic for the character, I think it’s worth your effort to check the The Pink Panther 2.  It’s time for me to track down part one.

Video 

The video quality on this disc is pretty darn good.  It gets a smidgeon less than a four, because the picture does suffer from a little bit of noise.  I only released that the majority of the film was shot in blu screen. You cannot hide rear projection flaws on Blu-ray, they will get snuffed out very easily.  On the good part, the film has an eccentric, vibrant, color palette.  The colors are vivid and sharp.  Certain scenes will appear muted, but that’s due to the overcast and cloudy skies.  The film takes place all over the world.  Softness may be an issue as well, but again, it’s due to some of the softer looking CGI iamages.

Audio 

The Pink Panther 2 has a pretty strong soundtrack.  The LFE channel clearly gets a workout, and handles the various rumblings with ease.  The center channel handles the majority of sound, and I could not detect any anomalies.  The dialogue in all of their various accents was clear and easy to understand.  The surround channels handled the ambience really well.  All in all, considering the material, the audio quality was very good.

 

Special Features 

MGM spared (somewhat) no expense on this uber deluxe set.  The Pink Panther 2 comes to us in a 3 disc collector’s set.

Disc One [Blu-Ray]

• Gag Reel: Presented in standard definition, a collection of bloopers, outtakes, and goofs.

• Drama Is Easy…Comedy Is Dangerous Featurette: The cast and crew talk about the complexity of a film that is both a comedy with equal parts adventure.  It’s pretty much a stunt featurette.

• A Dream Team Like No Other Featurette:   The Pink Panther 2 features an ensemble cast; lot’s of familiar faces.

• Trivia Game–Master Thief-Global Crime Showdown: Use your knowledge to track down the hidden jewels.

Disc Two [DVD]

• 27 Classic Pink Panther Cartoons—Nearly 3 Hours of Added Animated Fun: For the hardcore, this feature alone is worth purchase.  27 episodes of the classic cartoon series are included in standard definition.  

Disc Three [Digital Copy]

• Digital Copy of The Pink Panther 2 for Portable Media Players: Digital Copy of the film.  

 

Final Thoughts 

The Pink Panther 2 may not be for everyone, up to a few days ago, it wasn’t for me.  After the show, I was smiling from ear to ear, because it was so much fun. It works. I hope Steve Martin comes back and completes the trilogy of live action Pink Panther films.