Son of the Pink Panther (1993)

I'm surprised I don't see this movie appear on more worst sequels list. Then again, I guess it is the ninth in the series, so people might not even consider it one. The weakest part of this movie is the plot. A good fraction of the film is having the characters finding out Jacques is the son of Inspector Clouseau. That wouldn't be a big problem if not for the fact that it's the name of the movie! I admit to not being a big fan of the Pink Panther series, but I enjoyed most of them. This seems less like a spy comedy and more like a standard James Bond film. I'm really missing Peter Sellers and as you might have guessed, we get some cheap gags like farting and dogs humping. This film was so lame it seemed to just go right past me, which is a good thing. I knew Leonard Maltin would say the opening animated bits were the best parts of the movie. You can just watch the first four minutes and end your watch right there. If I was a fan of the series, I'd probably hate it more. *1/2

It goes without saying, of course, that no other star of a Pink Panther movie can measure up to Peter Sellers. But of those who have tried, Alan Arkin is probably the best, followed by the rather bland Ted Wass.As for Roberto Begnini? He's not even in the running.The script to SON isn't that great to begin with; it barely has a laugh in sight, and the background story into which the star steps is rather messy and confusing (not like that's a first for PP films or anything). But the worst thing about the film, by a long shot, is Begnini's character. He's annoying as anything, has an unconvincing and hard-to-understand accent, and -- above all -- is just painfully unfunny. When a female character calls him "adorable," it sounds like they could barely pay the actress enough to say it. When he makes a fool of himself pretending to be a doctor, it's like the other actor in the scene didn't have to *try* to look completely unamused.When Begnini comes close to being funny, it's generally due to subtle physical things, rather than anything verbal. While Sellers' Clouseau was always funny verbally, with rarely a wasted word, Begnini talks and talks and just makes things worse in the process.By far the most satisfying aspect of this movie, and the only reason to watch it, is the character of Commissioner Dreyfus. The TV Guide review of the movie says it best: "SON is Dreyfus' reward after... years of suffering... at the capricious hands of chaos. He's less caricatured here than usual. He tics and twitches, he goes a little nuts, but he wouldn't be Dreyfus if he didn't. Nevertheless, he also has achieved a degree of inner placidity and wisdom that has come with age and, for once, allows him to effortlessly and decisively solve the case. For once, he gets to be the hero, and he even gets the girl... In terms of the greater scheme of the series... it is significant that Dreyfus makes his peace with chaos by marrying into it. It's hard not to wish him well."Bottom line: Not even as good as CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER, and neither as good nor as bad as TRAIL OF THE PINK PANTHER (depending on which parts of that movie it's being compared to). Serious PANTHER fans may want to check it out just to see how the series ends, at least for Dreyfus.

Blake Edwards should really have stopped making Pink Panther films after Peter Sellers died and realised after the cut and paste film that was "Trail of the Pink Panther" and the flop that was "Curse of the Pink Panther" that the public just weren't interested in Clouseau clones. The franchise was already thirty years old at the time of this release and although there are some funny moments to be had everything feels tired and the cast can't save this weak film. Panther regulars Burt Kwonk and Herbert Lom all appear in an attempt to make this feel like a classic Panther but without the talent of Peter Sellers this film fails to match the high standards of the previous entries.A weak end to Blake Edwards franchise that deserved a better conclusion.

Ten years after the flop that was Curse of the Pink Panther, director Blake Edwards once again tried to revive his iconic series without the late star Peter Sellers. In Curse, there was some wonder among Dreyfus and Francois if Clifton Sleigh was related to Clouseau. Here, it's confirmed that Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli (Roberto Benigni) is indeed Clouseau's son by his mother, Maria Gambrelli (returning Claudia Cardinale, previously Princess Dala in The original Pink Panther. She replaced Elke Sommer of A Shot in the Dark). It's also confirmed that it's been ten years since Clouseau's death (perhaps a little after the events of Curse, perhaps?). Besides the always welcome return of Herbert Lom as Commissioner-once again!-Charles Dreyfus, we also get again Burt Kwouk as Cato, Liz Smith as Marta Balls (she previously appeared in Trail of the Pink Panther in outtakes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again as well as Curse), and, back as her husband, Professor Auguste Balls, the always versatile Graham Stark (though Harvey Korman played him in Smith's previous entries). With Andre Maranne seemingly unavailable, Dermot Crowley takes over his role of Seargent Francois Duval here. Also new to the cast is Debrah Farentino as Princess Yasmin who falls for Gambrelli, Robert Davi as the villain Hans Zabra, and Edwards' daughter Jennifer as Yussa. All are good in their roles. Incidentally, the director's son Geoffrey Edwards, who previously was co-writer on Trail as well as Curse, is second unit director here as well as the director of the live-action section of the title sequence. Okay, I liked Curse despite the ending so I wondered how I'd feel about this one after what happened there. I was very glad no mention was made of Clouseau's going over to the other side so I half wondered if that was conveniently forgotten or what. Anyway, Benigni was fine mixing his and Sellers' characterizations in making us believe he really was Jacques Clouseau's son and his scenes with Lom are pure gold. Kwouk as Cato is also nicely done compared to his over-the-top attacks on Curse. In fact, I liked his disguise as a Jewish man and his surprise attacks on the villains though I half wondered if he'd die when one of them kicked him back in the refrigerator. Not every set piece was laugh-your-head-off funny but I was pretty entertained from beginning to end. Oh, and there's a cameo by Benigni's wife, Nicoletta Braschi, involving another twist that I won't reveal here. And the beginning live-action/animated title sequence by Desert Music Pictures/Kroyer Films, Inc., respectively, marked a new kind of hilarity as conductor Pink Panther (who is passed the baton from Henry Mancini in a nice cameo) tries to stop the animated Benigni from wreaking havoc in the music/film projector studio as we see Bobby McFerrin use his unique mouth to warble his own version of Mancini's Pink Panther theme. So with this series entry, we say goodbye to the cast and crew of the previous nine (including this one) Pink Panther movies especially Mancini as he'd die not long after. This also turned out to be Edwards' last feature film as once again, Son of the Pink Panther flopped. So in a way, this was indeed the end of the ORIGINAL Pink Panther series. However, someone decided to reboot the series thirteen years later. Next up, The Pink Panther (2006)...