Il figlio della pantera rosa

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.

The "Pink Panther" franchise has spawned a number of movies. The last one in the series is "Son of the Pink Panther." It stars Roberto Benigni as the original Inspector Jacques Clouseau's son. He does a good job stumbling and bumbling his way through the story. It's easy to picture Benigni as a Clouseau-type stumblebum. And a number of characters appear that, although they did not appear in "The Pink Panther," have become familiar in other "Panther" movies. But the last in the line differs somewhat from the original. Its tone isn't quite as lighthearted as the first. It has a lot of violence that seems to taint the movie. Although there are a few good scenes, this movie reminds us all how sorely Peter Sellers is missed.

Roberto Benigni would have gone on to win an Oscar for "Life is Beautiful" few years later. The film takes place in French Rivera. Roberto plays a local police inspector who lives with his mother. When Princesd Yasmin gets kidnapped, Benigni stumbled on by accident. The storyline is problematic at times but still enjoyable. Veteran Panther actors like Herbert Lom, Claudia Cardinale, and Burt Kwouk back. Roberto is the son of the original pink panther and he carries on Peter Sellers' legacy of physical comedy. Benigni does his job well as the son of the pink panther with his goofy expressions and physical sense of humor.

For hardcore Clouseau/Sellers fans: Go ahead and skip this one. The missing element of Sellers really robs the Pink Panther series of its essence.

For true Edwards fans such as myself: Please see this movie. I don't quite know why Edwards made this, but it was nice to see some of the familiar Panther faces; and slapstick routines that were new to this film. The hospital bed scene with the remote control is classic Edwards. It seems to me he could have used this gag in any new non-panther movie since he has frequently used this type of humor in many other films like "A Fine Mess", "Blind Date", "S.O.B.", "High Time", "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?", "Victor/Victoria", and "10". Perhaps he was trying to use up some remaining gags he had in his script closet. I guess I'll have to keep waiting patiently for a new Edwards film. And does it always have to be the same comedy routines? Another poignant film like "That's Life" would be nice as well as another thriller like "Experiment in Terror".

I had mixed feelings about the appearance of Claudia Cardinale in this movie. Obviously she is a Pink Panther veteran where she played the Princess so it was nice to see her. In this movie she played the character of Maria Gambrelli which was originally played by Elke Sommer in "A Shot In The Dark". Why she didn't play the same character is strange to me, but then Panther fans may recall that Graham Stark has played several different characters throughout the Pink Panther series, and when Christopher Plummer played David Niven's role in "Return of the Pink Panther", his wife (also a different actress from the original) had a new name. Did he get a divorce? However in "Trail of the Pink Panther" I guess Niven and Capucine reconciled since they once again played the roles of the Phantom and Simone:) ????????? So I guess it was nothing that strange to see Claudia Cardinale appear in the film in a different role.

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)...