The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a 2006 reboot of the popular comedy series. 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's inactivity. The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. It was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 23, 2009.
Plot[]
When “The Tornado”, a master thief, steals priceless artifacts from around the world, the French government assembles a “Dream Team” of investigators to solve the case. Inspector Clouseau is one that they hope to have on the team most as he is the best detective out there. Chief Inspector Dreyfus who is furious to hear this allows it nonetheless. Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Dreyfus to join the detectives in Japan, site of the Tornado's latest heist. Cluseau does explain, The Tornado will steal the The Pink Panther but Dreyfus orders CLuseau to go as he is guarding it. Right after Clouseau crosses 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 and that he had known it would happen all along, leaving Dreyfus in shock.
Clouseau meets the other members of the Dream Team: Detective Randall Pepperidge from Great Britain; Vincenzo Brancaleoni from Italy; Kenji Mazuto, an electronics specialist from Japan; and Sonia Solandres, a researcher and criminology expert from India. The team then goes to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda. Assuming Avellaneda is the Tornado due to his payments, the Dream Team question him while Clouseau snoops around (so Alonso will not see these events). Avellaneda demonstrates that he lacks a characteristic bullet wound the Tornado received years ago; after the detectives leave, Avellaneda then 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, souring public opinion against the Dream Team.
When Clouseau's incomptence aggravates the situation, he is voted off the team. As he starts to pack up, Clouseau is called to an office and finds that the Tornado has apparently killed himself, leaving a suicide note claiming 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, but Clouseau remains unconvinced.
A celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor, although Clouseau is uninvited. While wandering near the celebration, he realizes something after seeing the license plate of Sonia's car and calls Ponton. Clouseau tries to tell Dreyfus that 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. After initially trying to leave, Sonia ultimately pulls out a gun, threatening to shoot Nicole, before shooting Clouseau, but the bullet ricochets off his Légion d'honneur medal. A chase ensues, with the Dream Team suffering due to various accidents caused by Clouseau's clumsiness.
Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther and, goaded by Clouseau, she does. Before she can escape however, Sonia is knocked out by Ponton and arrested. While Dreyfus berates Clouseau for what happened, Clouseau reveals that Sonia destroyed a fake gem, as Clouseau kept the real diamond in his possession in order to protect it (thanks to some assistance from his friend a night guard), while the Pink Panther at the museum was swapped with a replica he was given before leaving France. Furthermore, The Tornado, an expert on gems, would have recognized the fake Pink Panther, allowing Clouseau to deduce that his suicide note was forged and that he was murdered. Clouseau then reveals that he had given a ticket to 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 confirmed to him that Sonia was the culprit and that she used the Dream Team as a strategic cover. 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. The rest of the Dream Team now sees that that Clouseau is the best detective in the world.
Later, Clouseau marries Nicole in a ceremony officiated by Dreyfus and attended by the Dream Team, ending in chaos when Dreyfus accidentally destroys a security camera with 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.
Cast[]
- Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau - A clumsy police officer and now-recognized "Protector of the Pink Panther", who joins the Dream Team to bring the Tornado to justice and recover the Pink Panther once more.
- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Sonia Solandres/The Tornado - An Indian criminologist and a member of the Dream Team. She is revealed to be the international jewel thief known as "the Tornado", and is using the Dream Team as a strategic cover.
- 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 Vincenzo Roccara Squarcialupi Brancaleoni - An Italian businessman who joins the Dream Team.
- Alfred Molina as Randall Pepperidge - A British police detective who joins the Dream Team.
- 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.
- Lily Tomlin as Mrs. Yvette Berenger - A manners teacher who often calls Clouseau into her office to discuss his suggestive manners and prejudices.
- Johnny Hallyday as Laurence Millikin, a man who is incorrectly suspected to be the Tornado.
- Jeremy Irons as Alonso Avellaneda, a man the Dream Team checks out as the first suspect.
- Geoffrey Palmer as Commissioner Joubert
- Yevgeni Lazarev as the Pope.
- Christiane Amanpour as herself.
- Sharon Tay as CNN Reporter.
- Jack Metzger as Antoine
Production[]
The film was shot in Paris, France, and Boston, Bedford, Chelsea, Westwood, and Winchester, Massachusetts from August 20 to November 2, 2007.
Release[]
The Pink Panther 2 was theatrically released on February 6, 2009 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 23, 2009 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment.