Basic Instinct 2 (2006)

The same wealthy, sexy and perverse woman from the first installment is accused of murdering her partner and as a result, she starts visiting and courting at the same time, a young psychologist with a troubled past of his own. He tries to understand her peculiar character but the more he gets involved, the more he seems attracted to her in a seduction game which is apparently out of his league. As more and more characters around them continue to die without any traces, he gets into a lot of trouble as the protagonist of the first movie, ending up in a very unexpected position.This movie tries to continue the first movie's story, using the same but much older woman antagonist but unfortunately is not able to be on par with it. Unlike its predecessor, this one does not feature as much action. On the contrary, it is slow paced and sometimes dull, focusing much more on the mystery than on the action. This is regrettable because it reduces the excitement this kind of movie could offer, making it less appealing. It's a good movie with good actors and a good plot but it falls behind in terms of action.

Tonight, I watched the Basic Instinct and Basic Instinct 2 right after it. Both for the very first time.The first one got me excited as the actors were great and the story pretty cool. A great crime movie. I knew about the bad reputation the second installment has and expected a flop. But I did not get one. I got a movie full of honestly great actors, great environments and a great plot. The camera, sound, music, editing, actors, suspense... Everything is on top. I loved the movie and frankly have no idea why it is rated bad and why was it nominated for razzie awards. I guess you have to have a black sheep every year to point a finger at and unfortunately for the Basic Instinct 2 this movie was that black sheep in 2006.I rated Basic Instinct 9/10 because I was really entertained and I am rating the second one also 9/10 because I was entertained as well and even a bit more because the movie is more current to me as it was shot in 2006 and I am a younger person. Hats off to the makers of this movie and the actors. Highly recommended to anyone interested in crime movies or thrillers.

Dull, derivative and distinctly boring, BASIC INSTINCT 2 is one of the worst studio films I've sat through in the past couple of months. Fans of Paul Verhoeven's steamy original will find their patience truly tested with this routine, out-to-make-money-and-money-alone sequel in which almost everything goes wrong from the very beginning. Things kick off in an unintentionally hilarious fashion as writer Catherine Tramell (played by the only original star to return, Sharon Stone) and real-life premiership footballer Stan Collymore are having some fun in a speeding car until it crashes and the footballer drowns. Soon afterwards, Tramell goes to see some shrink who attempts to get inside her head, while all the while a serious of sadomasochistic murders are being played out around them. Yep, it's a retread of the first film's plot, but with none of the genuine 'whodunit' atmosphere that that film evoked. Here, even a monkey could figure out the blindingly obvious 'twist' that comes up in the final reel, exposing the identity of a killer in a plot revelation that's so clichéd that it's frankly unbelievable.For some reason this film was relocated to London, and despite a fair bit of location work, the city just doesn't gel with the story. I blame director Michael Caton-Jones, whose drab camera-work saps life from the surroundings. Truly, this guy is a pedestrian when it comes to direction and he saps the life from what was a poor script to begin with. In these situations, the actors have little chance of making an impact. A miscast David Morrissey is wooden and uncomfortable as the psychologist who gets out of his depth, but he's of Olivier quality when compared to a bloody awful Sharon Stone. Stone, looking to have had a ton of surgery since the first movie, frankly stinks. Her attempts at being sultry are laughable and it's no wonder why she's not seen on our screens anymore. She's lost it.The supporting cast fare no better, aside from the reliable David Thewlis, the only actor to come out of this with his dignity intact. Somehow, he manages to salvage his poor dialogue and become the film's most interesting character. There's actually a good cast in this film, with the likes of Hugh Dancy and Charlotte Rampling popping up in minor roles, but you wouldn't know it as they're all mired down in sub-par scriptwriting and unbelievable dialogue that sounds trite. The death scenes are uninteresting and the mind game and cat and mouse stuff between the two leads is just boring. The overlong running time means that this is a real chore to sit through – a definite shame, as I thought the first film wasn't half bad.

Murder writer Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) is living in London. After crashing her car, football star Kevin Franks in the passenger seat is killed. The police finds various drugs in his system and detective Roy Washburn (David Thewlis) is bent on locking her up. Police psychologist Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey) interviews her. Adam Towers (Hugh Dancy) is dating his ex-wife Denise Glass (Indira Varma) and wants to write about Tramell. Adam is also threatening to write about a former patient of Glass who killed his pregnant girlfriend. Milena Gardosh (Charlotte Rampling) is Glass's colleague. Glass diagnose Tramell as being addicted to risk, but she is released after a key witness is found to be unreliable.It opens up pretty well. There are great actors around. The police investigation holds good possibilities. Sharon Sone and David Morrissey just don't have enough intensity. His character is too lifeless. I would prefer the movie stay locked with David Thewlis keeping the same dynamics as the original. A police investigation is much more exciting. All the sitting around and talking isn't that compelling. At least the original had Stone crossing her legs and had more fun with the material. This doesn't work as a mystery or as a thriller or anything else. It ends with a very annoying sequence where it becomes really stupid what Glass does.