My Movie Review on The Pink Panther Strikes Again · 5:26pm Sep 17th, 2021
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "The Pink Panther Strikes Again".
Here's the rundown of this sequel:
After years of being stuck in an asylum thanks to his obsession with killing Clouseau and his overall hatred of him, former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfuss is finally rehabilitated. But, after Clouseau unexpectedly pays Dreyfuss a visit, which is followed by a series of accidents, Dreyfuss is unwittingly reverted back into the madman he was before and becomes more intent on killing Clouseau than ever.
When he later escapes the asylum, Dreyfuss decides to take his intentions of killing Clouseau on a global scale: By blackmailing the world into doing the job for him using a Doomsday Machine!
Meanwhile, Clouseau takes it upon himself to bring Dreyfuss to justice. Even if he runs into mishaps and bungles things up along the way.
In my review of "Revenge of the Pink Panther", I mentioned that I analyzed that film before this one because I personally classified Revenge as a prequel to Strikes Again. But, there are other reasons as to why I saved this movie too.
Despite the fact that three other Blake Edwards-helmed Pink Panther movies were made after Revenge (none of which involved Sellers due to his death), I always considered "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" to be the conclusion of the series, mainly because I believe it was the right place for Clouseau and Dreyfuss's stories to come to an end. Blake Edwards and company specifically made this movie to be the series's conclusion anyway, so that's another reason for why I classify it as such.
So, what do I think of this movie after all these years?
Well, what's there to say?
This sequel's FANTASTIC!
Everything about this movie makes it so fun to watch that I'm surprised it's not considered the best in the series. Especially compared to "A Shot in the Dark", which is a great movie but kinda overrated in some ways.
For instance, the direction by Blake Edwards, and the screenplay by him and Frank Waldman, were marvelous.
Despite obviously not knowing at the time what the future would hold, Edwards and Waldman did a terrific job at making this movie a fitting sendoff. They gave Clouseau and Dreyfuss a story that was bigger than the concepts of the other Pink Panther films, and with it came a sense that there was an ultimate test for the two characters. The concept itself also tied together with ease, because thanks to the goals both Clouseau and Dreyfuss had in this movie nothing was taken off track.
The humor and comedic-timings throughout the film were likewise hysterical to watch, with every gag being a major highlight that makes this motion picture memorable and entertaining. There was a vast amount of thrills and unpredictability too, and the best part is that you can never tell what's going to happen next.
As an honorable mention, I'd like to say that the moment where Clouseau tries to interrogate the staff of the Fassbender Mansion is one that I favorably compare to the scene showing Clouseau confronting the Ballon household in "A Shot in the Dark", in that it was funnier than the latter. The fight between Clouseau and Cato in this movie is also the most entertaining out of all the Clouseau vs. Cato scenes in the Pink Panther series.
The animation by Richard Williams for the opening and end credits was fun to watch as well.
Williams's work in this movie may not have the same kind of liveliness as "The Return of the Pink Panther", but he still created something very entertaining and creative for Strikes Again. The visual references to other films were both enjoyable and excellently-executed, and the humorous timings were hilarious. The movie theater setting in the intro was likewise so realistic-looking it seemed like Clouseau and the Pink Panther were in a theater from the real world.
In addition, the music by Henry Mancini was as magnificent as ever.
Similar to his work in "Revenge of the Pink Panther", Mancini's score in Strikes Again was one of the best he ever made for the franchise. The film's rendition of the Pink Panther theme was both fun to listen to and very faithful to the original version, and the melodies that Mancini made for the thrilling and climactic moments were emotionally epic. Plus, Tom Jones's "Come to Me" is an entrancing song thanks to the wonderful melodies and soulfully-rich singing by Jones himself. In fact, I thought the song was so good that I was inspired to find the song on iTunes and upload it to my Music app.
Finally, the acting, characters, and character development were fantastic.
The one thing I will admit is that I couldn't help but feel critical towards the usage of Olga Bariosova in some ways, particularly because there were some moments involving her that were a little too risqué. A prime example is that she was naked. Granted, I liked that the filmmakers were making sure she wasn't completely exposed, but still...was it really necessary to not have the character wear undergarments?
On the bright side of it all, Olga wasn't without purpose. She did manage to drive the plot along by helping Clouseau discover where Dreyfuss was hiding out, and I believe she was the key element in helping Clouseau find out what else has been going on without him knowing. She wasn't without development or personality either. Plus, Lesley-Anne Down was wonderful in the role.
In addition to this, Graham Stark was quite a scene-stealer in his role as the German hotel desk clerk. Despite his role being relatively small, every moment with both Stark and his character was hilarious and instantly memorable. It takes a terrific actor to make something fun out of a minor part, and it was arguably his 2nd best role in the Pink Panther series.
Herbert Lom and his character of Charles Dreyfuss were quite the showstoppers, if I may add. It was particularly amazing to see Dreyfuss consistently develop from a mere wild man to an intimidating supervillain, and the way Lom and the filmmakers updated the character while still being true to his previous appearances was remarkable. Lom practically commanded the screen whenever he was present.
Lastly, Peter Sellers and his character of Chief Inspector Clouseau were as excellent as ever. No matter the situation, Sellers continuously delivered in making every moment hilarious to watch! Even when his character often got people's names mixed up, I couldn't help but laugh so much because Sellers didn't refrain from making anything funny. Not to mention his abilities to improvise and do physical comedy appeared to be at an all-time high. And as always, Clouseau himself was an engaging protagonist to hang with, and he certainly wasn't without development either.
In the end, "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" is truly one of the most fun movies around. The comedy and story is enjoyable, the performances and characters are entertaining, everything! It's also what I'd like to call the perfect end for Clouseau and Dreyfuss's character arcs.
So, I rate "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" five out of five stars.
Whether I will actually review "Trail of the Pink Panther", "Curse of the Pink Panther", and "Son of the Pink Panther" in the future is something I'm not exactly sure about. But, I feel that doing so would be inevitable.
However, what I'm hoping for currently is that the order by which I reviewed each of these Pink Panther films can inspire others as to how they can look at the series from a chronological standpoint, particularly to help others not go through the stress of considering the three films I mentioned canon since they weren't very well-received anyway.
You know one of my favorite scenes from this hilarious movie is when Dreyfuss uses steels to scratch a chalk board in order to coerce a scientist to cooperate with him.