The Pink Panther Strikes Again

The Pink Panther Strikes Again is a hilarious film about the further misadventures of Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Action proceeds smartly through plot-advancing action scenes, interleaved with excellent non-dialog sequences featuring Sellers and underscored superbly by Henry Mancini.

The current installment is a bit funnier than its predecessor, but the success of the Panther series has never depended solely on laughs. Blake Edwards's slick, seamless directions makes even the flimsiest routines seem stylish; in addition to its comic virtues, this is one of the best-looking movies of its kind in recent memory. [27 Dec 1976, p.57]

Both Mr. Sellers and Mr. Edwards delight in old gags, and part of the joy of The Pink Panther Strikes Again is watching the way they spin out what is essentially a single routine, such as one fellow's trying, unsuccessfully, to help another fellow out of a lake.

There has to come a time when inspiration gives way to habit, and I think the Pink Panther series is just about at that point. That's not to say this film isn't funny -- it has moments as good as anything Sellers and Edwards have ever done -- but that it's time for them to move on.

There are some marvelous sight gags, but the film goes over the top into mindless farce at times, destroying much of the Chaplinesque believability that Sellers had earlier engendered.

The fifth Pink Panther effort might seem marginally disappointing even to diehard Clouseau fans, with slapstick gags for the pratfalling clown hung very loosely on increasingly implausible jetsetting plot antics.

The director, Blake Edwards, sets up promising slapstick situations, and then the payoffs are out of step (and worse, repeated); after the first half hour or so, the film loses momentum.

Another movie in the Pink Panther franchise, and again I feel like nothing new has been added to what we've already seen. In a franchise that has been ruled by ups and downs, and by an inconsistency that doesn't bode well, the film is nonetheless satisfying: it's not excellent, not even close, but it's not bad either. The film's biggest problem turns out to be the plot, which is sparse, excessive and very exaggerated. I felt, on more than one occasion, that the film stretches the plot to the maximum, due to lack of content. Everything revolves around a deranged ex-Inspector Dreyfus, who is transformed into a kind of super villain. After creating a kind of "Spectre" (those familiar with the James Bond universe will understand my comparison better), he manufactures a weapon of mass destruction and threatens the entire world, demanding Clouseau's head. Is it exaggerated enough? Peter Sellers does what he can with what he gets to work with, but I couldn't help but feel that his character is almost a caricature of what we've seen before, and that the actor is underrated and underused. Even more cartoonish and weird, Herbert Lom deserves, however, a praise for the way he took advantage of the madness and exaggeration of the character, turning it into something truly funny. Technically, the film manages to rival its predecessors in terms of cinematography, sets and costumes, giving us exactly what we were hoping to find. There are no great effects, but what was used has quality and does its job. Music is not far behind and satisfies us without, however, standing out.