La Pantera Rosa
So, I saw the Pink Panther on Monday of last week. All-in-all, a good film. Even better company.
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from the movie, I mean, it's got quite the pedegree to live up to, ya know? But also, as I was asking Brittany afterwards: did I really want to see an exact clone of the original movies? Not only would that be an almost impossible task to do, I just don't know if I would want them to succede at it, the originals being such classics. If anyone could reproduce a classic like the P.P. movies at will, what would be the point of them being classics in the first place?
I was happy that Steve Martin played the part of Clouseau. I felt that if there was only one guy who could pull of this movie, it was him. I hasn't too happy about Beyonce, since she was obviously only added for sex appeal (and I personally don't find not wearing clothes to be all that "sexy," not to mention the fact that she's not nearly as pretty as everyone seems to think she is. Oh well, to quote/paraphrase Ringworld "the minority is always insane.") And there were two scenes which I felt were waaay too suggestive for a PG-rated movie. The originals were never that suggestive. They had a couple suggestive parts, but not THAT suggestive.
Anyway... moving on...
I wanted to review the movie in a context that didn't pit it against the originals, and I finally realized that that would be impossible, so I will try and be as unbiased as I can be, but I will, of necessity, have to compare it to the originals.
The movie runs at a much faster, (more modern,) pace. Sometimes that was just fine, but at others it made the movie feel too rushed. Not so much that it was a major distraction, but it was a distraction. They also threw in a lot more action, ("a lot" being relative, considering that the originals contained zero to none... discounting the Cato fight scenes, which were arguably the best parts of the original movies,) which was a mixed blessing.
I was sorry to see that Cato was not included in the movie, but he wasn't in the opriginals either until the third movie. (I think it was the third movie, at least.) I was also kinda surprized that Clouseau's assistant wasn't Hercule. Not that he was in very many of the originals, but you'd think that they'd go for whatever ties they could get.
The opening credits were nice... I guess. They had a few good moments, but, really, they needed a lot more work. They seemed choppy. The originals were always fluid and almost told a story by themselves. This new opening was just a bunch of random scenes.
But my biggest beef with this re-make is the fact that Clouseau actually solved the mystery all by himself. In the originals, one of the parts that made the Pink Panther movies what they were was the fact that it was this entirely imcompetent detective (after the first movie, at least,) who manages to solve the mystery in spite of his detective skills. It's as though his poor detective skills which always led him in the wrong direction managed to, paradoxically, be exactly what he needed to solve the case. But in this new one, even though he was mostly incompetent, he was still able to use his brain and real detective skills to solve the case on his own. That's not how it is. I may or may not have wanted a clone of the originals, but if there is one thing they shouldn't have changed, it was that.
That being said, I must repeat that I did enjoy the movie. It was consistantly funny, as is to be expected of Steve Martin. (Steve Martin did an excellent job.) There were more than a few parts that had me laughing hard enough to miss hearing a few lines and even the "groaner" jokes weren't all that bad.
The movie did, more or less, what I expected of it: It made me laugh. Was it a good movie? Yes. Is it a true or a worthy successor to the originals? Well... That's quite a different question. I would say... somewhat. I don't think that it's nearly as good as the originals, but, having said that, I do think that it could stand amongst the originals with it's head held up high. (After all, it was a lot better than "Son of the Pink Panther." Make of that what you will.)
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from the movie, I mean, it's got quite the pedegree to live up to, ya know? But also, as I was asking Brittany afterwards: did I really want to see an exact clone of the original movies? Not only would that be an almost impossible task to do, I just don't know if I would want them to succede at it, the originals being such classics. If anyone could reproduce a classic like the P.P. movies at will, what would be the point of them being classics in the first place?
I was happy that Steve Martin played the part of Clouseau. I felt that if there was only one guy who could pull of this movie, it was him. I hasn't too happy about Beyonce, since she was obviously only added for sex appeal (and I personally don't find not wearing clothes to be all that "sexy," not to mention the fact that she's not nearly as pretty as everyone seems to think she is. Oh well, to quote/paraphrase Ringworld "the minority is always insane.") And there were two scenes which I felt were waaay too suggestive for a PG-rated movie. The originals were never that suggestive. They had a couple suggestive parts, but not THAT suggestive.
Anyway... moving on...
I wanted to review the movie in a context that didn't pit it against the originals, and I finally realized that that would be impossible, so I will try and be as unbiased as I can be, but I will, of necessity, have to compare it to the originals.
The movie runs at a much faster, (more modern,) pace. Sometimes that was just fine, but at others it made the movie feel too rushed. Not so much that it was a major distraction, but it was a distraction. They also threw in a lot more action, ("a lot" being relative, considering that the originals contained zero to none... discounting the Cato fight scenes, which were arguably the best parts of the original movies,) which was a mixed blessing.
I was sorry to see that Cato was not included in the movie, but he wasn't in the opriginals either until the third movie. (I think it was the third movie, at least.) I was also kinda surprized that Clouseau's assistant wasn't Hercule. Not that he was in very many of the originals, but you'd think that they'd go for whatever ties they could get.
The opening credits were nice... I guess. They had a few good moments, but, really, they needed a lot more work. They seemed choppy. The originals were always fluid and almost told a story by themselves. This new opening was just a bunch of random scenes.
But my biggest beef with this re-make is the fact that Clouseau actually solved the mystery all by himself. In the originals, one of the parts that made the Pink Panther movies what they were was the fact that it was this entirely imcompetent detective (after the first movie, at least,) who manages to solve the mystery in spite of his detective skills. It's as though his poor detective skills which always led him in the wrong direction managed to, paradoxically, be exactly what he needed to solve the case. But in this new one, even though he was mostly incompetent, he was still able to use his brain and real detective skills to solve the case on his own. That's not how it is. I may or may not have wanted a clone of the originals, but if there is one thing they shouldn't have changed, it was that.
That being said, I must repeat that I did enjoy the movie. It was consistantly funny, as is to be expected of Steve Martin. (Steve Martin did an excellent job.) There were more than a few parts that had me laughing hard enough to miss hearing a few lines and even the "groaner" jokes weren't all that bad.
The movie did, more or less, what I expected of it: It made me laugh. Was it a good movie? Yes. Is it a true or a worthy successor to the originals? Well... That's quite a different question. I would say... somewhat. I don't think that it's nearly as good as the originals, but, having said that, I do think that it could stand amongst the originals with it's head held up high. (After all, it was a lot better than "Son of the Pink Panther." Make of that what you will.)
posted by Cpt. Sqweky at
6:59 PM
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