Il figlio della pantera rosa

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)...

No this doesn't match the Sellers films, but it does have Roberto Benigni which is reason enough to watch.

Okay, yes, when Benigni is not on screen this film is bad, and some of the performances are patently bizarre (Edwards' daughter as one of the villains for example) but it has some very clever silliness by the mad man of Italian comedy which is fine by me.

I know this isn't much of a review but it isn't much of a movie with only one thing, or rather one man to recommend it. If you don't like Benigni in full on silly mode then don't watch this. If you do like him you must see this.

While riding the subway eight years ago, I saw the billboards for "Son of the Pink Panther" and I really didn't think much about it then. I had yet to become a fan of Blake Edwards' work, and I really hadn't seen any of the previous Panther films.

Flash forward to 1999. Turner Classic Movies had shown the first six entries in the Panther series and I had watched them in chronological order, which I think is a good idea for anyone to do. I had seen "Curse" on tape and I decided to check out "Son of the Pink Panther" just out of curiosity. I had read some reviews, which were pretty dismal. So I had no reason to expect anything great.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself laughing a lot during the 95 minute running time of "Son". This was a clever, funny and very original entry in the long-running "Panther" series. Blake Edwards' instinct was right on the money when he cast Italian comedian Roberto Benigni in the role of Clouseau's illegitimate son. Benigni displays all the traits that made Peter Sellers such a great talent. He plays the comic scenes very straight which sells it so much better than if he had played it slyly. And the films he has made since ("The Monster", "Night on Earth" and "Life Is Beautiful", which was sort of his own "Being There") just confirms my initial reaction. And of course, what is a Panther film without Dreyfus, played as always by Herbert Lom, who works well with Benigni in many memorable sequences.

If I have a complaint about "Son", it is that it tends to get too preoccupied with the plot. The best Panther films didn't depend on plot as much as characterization and "Son" suffers because of it as did Edwards' previous disappointment "Switch". But "Son" has a manic comic energy and polish that "Switch" lacked and the payoffs work as in "Switch" they did not.

"Son of the Pink Panther" is a better film than "Curse", "Revenge" and the original film, but not "Strikes Again", "Return" and "A Shot in the Dark" (of which this film has its roots in) Sadly, Edwards retired from theatrical features after this although he still works in TV. He showed so much vigor and life in "Son" that makes me want to see him make another Panther film, especially with Roberto Benigni. I'm still waiting.

***1/2 out of 4 stars

No pun intended - obviously Peter Sellers was no more by that time. But you have a lot of people involved who were there at the conception of the series (and what a story that is - check it out if you can, how the character came to be) ... and yet you can feel that the most important ingredient is missing. Even Steve Martin couldn't step into the (big) shoes ... not easy to fill.

Same is true for Roberto Begnini ... he has done some ... wonderful movies (see what I did there?), but this is not one of them. At least I wouldn't call it that. We have a love interest, we have again players you could be familiar with if you have seen the other movies ... and yet ... there is a big hole .. there is Sellers missing.

On the other hand, if you are able to just go with the flow ... just accept the silliness this serves you ... a good example is the Son dressed as a doctor "examining" the bad guy ... this is beyond ridiculous ... you'll either find it super funny or be super annoyed by it ... this informs how you feel about the rest of it.

The beginning of the movie with the chase scene is the same .... funny or not - your choice ... I've seen worse of course ... but also way better.

No this movie is not as good as the earliest Pink Panter movies and no, Roberto Benigni ain't no Peter Sellers but fair is fair, this is an entertaining and fun enough comedy, that showed some potential for a new fresh start of the Pink Panther series.

Everything in this movie indicated that they intended this movie as a new and fresh start of the Pink Panther series. The movie was more of its time and modern and looked more like a James Bond movie done comedy style than an old fashioned made slapstick, like all of the other previous Pink Panther movies were done in.

Too bad that people never really gave this movie a fair change. People just thought that the Pink Panther series should had stopped with the death of Peter Sellers in 1980 and director Blake Edwards should had never went on making more Pink Panther movies, as he did. This was the third Pink Panther movie without Peter Sellers, so people were already mostly fed up with it and after the previous too disappointing Pink Panther entries, the expectations for this movie naturally weren't really high. But I for one however wouldn't had mind seeing more Pink Panther movies with the son of Clouseau in it.

No, I never really have been a Roberto Benigni fan, since he mostly only plays naive, smiling, jumping and screaming comical characters but he simply was well cast in this movie and did a good job with his role. I think it was a good move that they didn't let hem try to impersonate Peter Seller's performance as the famous 'brilliant' inspector but instead letting him be a total different character with Benigni his own interpretation.

Nevertheless it's not a movie that totally abandons the style or spirit of the previous Pink Panther movies. It still let some old character re-appear in this movie such as Police Commissioner Charles Dreyfus (finally he got his promotion), Professor Auguste Balls, Cato and Sergeant Francois Duval. It however also becomes painfully obviously that by now the actors who are portraying the characters got terribly old and it became time for some fresh blood. As much as I loved Herbert Lom in all of the previous Pink Panther movies as Dreyfus, he really was too old for his role in this movie to be still believable and good in it. Same goes for Burt Kwouk as Cato, who at the time of this movie already was well in his 60's.

The fact that this is a more comical approach of James Bond also means that there is some more story present this time, with a real villain and a love interested, action, shooting as well as most other typical genre clichés. The feeling that this is a more comical version of James Bond is being strengthened by the presence of Robert Davi, who previously played the main villain in the James Bond movie "Licence to Kill". Basically he plays the same role as he always does; a ruthless criminal boss who always is looking for more power and money. But if you're so great at playing these sort of roles, why wouldn't you take it? A only complaint could be that he doesn't play his role comically enough. He is serious as always, though I'm not to sure if this was what the film-makers originally had in mind. The different approach of the entire movie might also be a reason why some people have difficulties accepting this as a Pink Panther movie but I in fact think that all of the Pink Panther movies are somewhat- and always wanted to be like James Bond movies, only done in a complete different comical style.

Director Blake Edwards with this movie shows that old fashioned slapstick can still be incorporated properly into 'modern' movies, if done and handled correctly. Blake Edwards with this movie shows that he still had it in him, which also makes it sort of a shame that his career pretty much died right after this movie.

Give this movie a fair change and you might end up liking it for what it is.

6/10

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