Assigned to the case again when the elusive titular diamond is stolen, Inspector Clouseau gets in over head without realising it in this third 'Pink Panther' film. While the formula here is not quite as winning as in 'A Shot in the Dark', the previous sequel, 'Return' is still a lot of fun to watch with Sellers overdoing his French accent even more and Herbert Lom receiving more screen as Clouseau's easily frustrated boss, driven to the brink of madness. Several of the dialogue exchanges between Sellers and Lom are laugh-out-loud funny, and in addition to a great animated opening titles sequence, there is a fantastic end credits animated sequence in which Lom becomes involved with the animation. The film is not all good news though with an excessive amount of slapstick comedy; the slow motion fight scenes between Clouseau and Cato are particularly grating, and running at nearly two hours long, much of the physical comedy (Sellers getting stuck under a desk) seems needlessly dragged out. Christopher Plummer's casting is also a bit of a mixed blessing. He gives the role his all, but playing Niven's character from the original film, it is hard not to draw unfavourable comparisons. The rest of the cast are very good though, with British comedy legend Victor Spinetti as solid as ever and a zesty turn from Catherine Schell. This is Sellers and Lom's film all the way though, and as suspenseful as the actual jewel theft is early on, it is all the back and forth action between Sellers and Lom that renders the film very decent as far as sequels go.
Review of The Return of the Pink Panther
