Pink Panther 2

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Pink Panther 2's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Pink Panther 2 completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 7 April 2009.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Pink Panther 2 contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Pink Panther 2 is the sequel to the 2006 remake of the beloved 1960s Pink Panther movie. It reintroduces an array of well known characters and familiar slapstick comedy routines that featured in the first remake.  The well known bungling French detective Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) is reinstated to crime solver extraordinaire status by his boss Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline).  However the seemingly charitable move is actually a ploy for Inspector Dreyfus to further his own career with the intent to swoop in and save the day after Inspector Clousea botches the case.
 
Clouseau has been given the task of solving the high profile murder of a famous soccer coach and recover the missing Pink Panther diamond stolen from his grieving and beautiful fiance, Xania (Beyonce Knowles).  As expected Inspector Clouseau has a number of mishaps and adventures along the way which hamper his crime solving attempts.  Fortunately, the hapless detective has the support of his loyal sidekick Ponton (Jean Reno) and adoring secretary Nicole (Emily Mortimer) who help him through a myriad of fumbles, misinterpretations and mispronunciations.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Crime

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is frequent slapstick violence and accidental harm, some of which may be imitated by children. It includes people being hit, dragged behind cars, falling downstairs and running into things with no acknowledgement of consequences or impact that this might cause.

Examples of more serious violence include

• a famous soccer coach is killed by a poisoned dart
• one of the characters is shot in the head and killed
• Xania holds Nicole hostage with a gun
• Inspector Clouseau is shot by Xania
• children attack Inspector Clouseau and he responds by holding them over a balcony
• use of force by armed police

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged under eight, including the following:

• Ponton is distressed about his separation from his wife and family
• Inspector Clouseau falls from a building
• Ponton’s children inflict violence on Inspector Clouseau and cause property damage.  Clouseau responds by holding the children over a balcony
• There are images of dead people in the movie but they are not shown dying
• Clouseau receives an electric shock
• Fire engulfs a building

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Most children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Peugot
• Radioshack
• Landrover
• Ebay
• Smart car

Sexual references

There is a high level of sexual innuendo, objectification of women, and sexualised talk and imagery throughout the film including:

• several discussions about ‘sexy women’ using descriptive language including ‘cleavage’, ‘bending over’, ‘undulating thighs’ and “making babies” with a woman all day long’
• a scene where innocent behaviour is misconstrued as a sexual act
  one of the characters takes a sexual enhancement pill

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• a man squeezing a woman’s buttocks
• women in a low cut and tight clothing

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• people drink wine over dinner

Coarse language

There is some coarse language and name calling in this movie, including:

• arse
• idiot

The movie's message

aPink Panther 2 features a great array of Hollywood names, but fails to provide many genuine laughs for the audience. Very young children are likely to be disturbed by some scenes, but older children may enjoy the slapstick humour. The main message from this movie is that crime does not pay because the truth will be discovered in the end.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include

• the importance of love and family
• respect for others, even if they are different from you

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the real-life consequences of

• damaging property
• lying and deception
• stealing
• the violence seen in the film
• saying denigrating things to people

Parents may also wish to discuss the portrayal of women in the film.