The Pink Panther 2

This time around, a master thief called the Tornado is swiping famous ancient artifacts, like the Shroud of Turin. A “Dream Team” of detectives — Andy Garcia as an Italian lothario, Alfred Molina as a blustery Brit and Yuki Matsuzaki as a Japanese tech whiz — from around the globe is called in to investigate. They’re accompanied by a Tornado expert, played by Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai. Meanwhile, Clouseau (Steve Martin) is handing out parking tickets, when his shocked superior (John Cleese, replacing the first film’s Kevin Kline, who wisely bowed out of this mess) informs him that he’ll represent France in the all-star detective team. There isn’t much of a plot here, just a series of sight gags (involving wine bottles, a flamenco troupe and the pope) mixed with Clouseau’s unintelligible French (yes, the earlier film’s mangling of the word “hamburger” makes a return appearance). The whole thing rides that thin line between childish and stupid. H 1/2