The Pink Panther 2 is a 2009 American comedy-mystery film directed by Harald Zwart. It is the eleventh installment in The Pink Panther film series and the sequel to the 2006 film The Pink Panther, a reboot of the popular comedy series. The film was released on February 6, 2009 in North America. In the film, Inspector Clouseau must team up with detectives from other countries to rout a daring burglar, The Tornado, who has returned after a decade's inactivity.
Steve Martin, who reprised the role of Clouseau, originated by Peter Sellers, polished the original script written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber in November 2006. MGM, partnering with Columbia Pictures on the sequel, hired the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel to perform a further rewrite in January 2007. Principal photography began in Paris on August 20, 2007, then moved to Boston several weeks later, where filming ended on November 2, 2007.
John Cleese replaces Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus with Jean Reno and Emily Mortimer reprising their roles as Clouseau's partner Ponton and Clouseau's girlfriend Nicole. Beyoncé did not return for the sequel. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appears as the criminology expert Sonia Solandres. Andy García, Yuki Matsuzaki and Alfred Molina round out the cast as detectives Italian Inspector Vincenzo Brancaleone, Japanese Inspector Kenji Mazuto and British Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge, respectively. It was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on June 23, 2009.
Plot
When master thief "The Tornado" steals artifacts from around the world, the French government assembles a "Dream Team" of investigators to solve the case. Meanwhile, Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the detectives in Japan, where the Tornado's latest heist occurred. After Clouseau crosses the "borders" of France at an airport gate, news breaks that the Pink Panther diamond has been stolen. Clouseau meets the rest of the Dream Team: Detective Randall Pepperidge from Great Britain; Vincenzo Brancaleoni from Italy; Kenji Mazuto, an electronics specialist from Japan; and Sonia Solandres, a criminology expert from India.
The team then goes to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda. Assuming Avellaneda is the Tornado, the Dream Team questions him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda lacks a characteristic bullet wound the Tornado received years ago, so the detectives leave. Later, he meets with the real Tornado. That night, Clouseau and his partner Ponton spy on Avellaneda at a restaurant using an audio bug. The mission is compromised when they find Vincenzo and Nicole, Clouseau's girlfriend, having dinner there. Banned from the restaurant for burning it down months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and switches the bug to Nicole's table, burning down the restaurant again in the process. Meanwhile, the Tornado steals the Pope's ring, souring public opinion against the Dream Team. When Clouseau's incompetence aggravates the situation, he is voted off the team. Clouseau is later called to an office and finds that the Tornado has killed himself, leaving a note claiming he destroyed the Pink Panther – considering it so beautiful that he could not allow anyone else to own it – and left the other treasures to be recovered. Examining a key found in the Pope's Chambers, the Dream Team match the dead man's DNA with the one recovered from when the Tornado was shot and believe they have solved the case. However, Clouseau remains unconvinced.