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Parents' Guide to

The Pink Panther 2

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Silly sequel elicits more eyerolling than laughs.

Movie PG 2009 92 minutes
The Pink Panther 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 10+

Based on 19 parent reviews

Monica C.
Monica C. Parent
September 16, 2016
age 13+

Cringey

So slapsticky yet not funny,although the kids laughed a few times. The sexual innuendo was totally unnecessary and had me and my husband leaping to check the rating. Surprised to find it only a PG.
KristenW 272
KristenW 272 Parent of 8 and 10-year-old
August 11, 2023
age 12+

Sexual content overload; unchecked racist joke

Some kids movies have sexual innuendo; double entendre usage of words or phrases you would recognize if you already knew them. THIS movie teaches kids what sexy means, what ogling is, and even uses the phrase “conquest” and pointing at a woman. One of Inspector Cluseau’s assistants attempts to educate him (is this a nod to the terrible misogyny coming to light in the movie industry?) but he remains steadfast in his ways. Additionally, she says “we never refer to Japanese as our little yellow friends, are you prejudiced against Asians?” He responds by sharing a prejudice that isn’t corrected. One assumes the audience is supposed to feel better about laughing at the jokes because we were just told they are wrong?
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What's the Story?

After master thief "The Tornado" steals some of the world's greatest treasures -- including the Pink Panther diamond -- Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) is selected to join an international "dream team" of detectives to hunt down the renowned cat burglar. Joining him are investigators from Italy (Andy Garcia), England (Alfred Molina), and Japan (Yuki Matsuzaki), as well as an expert on the Tornado's past crimes (played by Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai). As they track down the Tornado, the other detectives grow tired of Clouseau's bumbling, embarrassing ways -- while the inspector and his faithful assistant Nicole (Emily Mortimer) try to not to act on their obvious mutual attraction.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (19 ):
Kids say (37 ):

With such a crack ensemble -- Martin and co-stars John Cleese and Lily Tomlin are renowned comic actors -- audiences are bound to expect a worthy comedy, but they'll be disappointed. Despite the cast's considerable collective talent, they can't rise above the movie's ridiculous dialogue and hammy gags; frankly, it's a downright insult to the memory of comedy legend Peter Sellers and is clearly another example of Hollywood prolonging an undeserving franchise to cash in on the generally easy-to-please family demographic.

There are a few moments when the slapstick does elicit a laugh or two, but in the end, THE PINK PANTHER 2 is one of those sequels that should never have been greenlit. The atrocious accents aren't funny at all, and the Pope jokes sound like they were written by a third grader. In these tight economic times, it would be much better to stay home and rent the original series than encourage Hollywood to keep making more Pink Panther flicks.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the differences between animated violence and cartoonish, live-action violence that features real people in potentially dangerous situations. How do you know when something "violent" is meant to be funny and not scary or real? Families can also discuss why Inspector Clouseau is considered the best detective in the world, even though he acts like such a dimwit. How does he compare to the other detectives? Is his awful French accent funny? For those familiar with the original Pink Panther movies, how do the new ones compare?

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