Basic Instinct 2 (DVD)

...intentional. And like the previous Basic Instinct Catherine plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with her folly. But this time has she been playing a game to hard for her to beat?


Cast

Sharon Stone .... Catherine Tramell
David Morrissey .... Dr. Michael Glass
Charlotte Rampling .... Dr. Milena Gardosh
David Thewlis .... Det. Supt. Roy Washburn
Hugh Dancy .... Adam Towers
...
...day when it came to Basic Instinct 2.


It's not all bad news; the story is quite good. And if you have never seen the first Basic Instinct then you may be excused for thinking it's not a bad movie. Trouble being if you did see the original you'll know the plot as it slowly unfolds. And I mean slowly; 114 minutes is the runtime of this movie something that could easily be reduced by 20 - 30 minutes.

I must add ... more

Having turned her back on San Francisco Catherine Tramell is now living in London; but of course it's not long before she comes to the attention of the police. But then driving off a road into the water at a time of sexual climax, while managing to kill your passenger is always likely to cause attention.

With Kevin Franks dead (her passenger) it's down to the psychiatrists to decide if her part in his death is intentional. And like the previous Basic Instinct Catherine plays a deadly game of cat and mouse with her folly. But this time has she been playing a game to hard for her to beat?

Cast

Sharon Stone .... Catherine Tramell
David Morrissey .... Dr. Michael Glass
Charlotte Rampling .... Dr. Milena Gardosh
David Thewlis .... Det. Supt. Roy Washburn
Hugh Dancy .... Adam Towers
Stan Collymore .... Kevin Franks
Neil Maskell .... Det. Ferguson
Jan Chappell .... Solicitor
Terence Harvey .... Henry Rose
Ellen Thomas .... Prosecutor
Mark Sangster .... Court Reporter #1
Tim Berrington .... Court Reporter #2
Indira Varma .... Denise Glass
Heathcote Williams .... Dr. Jakob Gerst

Possibly the first thing that people think when hearing the words "Basic Instinct 2" is "oh my God!" And they would certainly be justified in their statement. However had the movie not had a reference to the original movie and just carried the tag line Risk Addiction I'm sure it would have received a warmer greeting. Of course you cannot overcome the casting; and I'm sure the casting associate had a good long walk around the skips of London picking out waifs and strays as they went.

So what's wrong with the movie?

David Morrisey is a good place to start; even on television Morrisey is hard to cast. Now Britain's favourite turd in a suit is cast in a movie that's been 15 years in the making. Morrisey is not convincing as the psychiatrist whom Tramell (stone) has caught in her vicious web. Morrisey tries hard to hide his accent on times losing it completely; saddle that with his terrible animated performance and its like Crossroads never closed.

Strike two comes in the form of David Thewlis; I can never understand the fascination with Thewlis. Believe it or not but there are people out there who consider him a talented actor. But how hard can it be to play yourself? Because Thewlis consistently plays exactly the same part in every film he is in. Here he plays a bent Geordie cop who is adamant he will have Trammel convicted for murder even if it means that he must create his own evidence. Of great amusement is Thewlis' final scene of the movie which literally comes direct from a school play.

Strike three its Britains favourite constipated actress Charlotte Rampling; and you need to ask has this woman ever appeared in a movie that people like? It seems that thirty two years ago she made a slightly steamy movie called The Night Porter and she has been running off that reputation ever since. You cannot warm to her and her character and you spend most of the movie wishing someone would put a gun to her head and fire.

Strike four Heathcote Williams there was a time where the inclusion of Heathcote Williams would add a level of style to a movie; but those days are long gone. Like a British version of Andy Warhole with a nasty died wig and Michael Jackson style plastic surgery Williams bobs in and out of the movie like he is something. But he is not; Williams knows that but why did the person responsible for the casting know.

Strike Five Stan Collymoore, no sooner had he got involved with an old trollop down on The Farm; then he had jumped aboard the tale of this movie hoping for a brand new career. The good news is that Stan is on screen for about 3 minutes and says only one or two sentences before he is despatched to a watery grave.

But you have to keep asking; who on earth cast this monstrosity well you might be surprised to hear that Karen Lindsay Stewart is behind some of the best castings of modern movie history. Obviously she was having an off day when it came to Basic Instinct 2.

It's not all bad news; the story is quite good. And if you have never seen the first Basic Instinct then you may be excused for thinking it's not a bad movie. Trouble being if you did see the original you'll know the plot as it slowly unfolds. And I mean slowly; 114 minutes is the runtime of this movie something that could easily be reduced by 20 - 30 minutes.

I must add that Jerry Goldsmiths original score is again used for this sequel. And it actually suits the feel of this movie than it did the original. So full marks for re-using the score as it gave the movie a feeling of class that it would otherwise have lacked.

Basic Instinct 2 also tries to cash in on the smut factor; thinking it can get some of the naughty element that made its predecessor so controversial. But the smuts all to British; yes lets have an orgy we have not down that in a British movie before! Next step lets imply a bit of buggery What Ho! The bits where the movie tries to be near the knuckle just don't work; not even in the vaguest sense. There will be no titillation for viewers with this dirty old rag of a film.

So my advice to you viewer is that if you never saw Basic Instinct; then Basic Instinct 2 may be worth a watch. If you did see the original then I'm sorry to say you'll hate this; its far too similar, but at the same time out of place. And of course it helps if the casting is worth a mention. But with the exception of Sharon Stone who looks stunning there is nobody worth mentioning. Even studly Hugh Dancy looks like someone they picked up off the street and offered him a few bottles in exchange for a days work.

We have been spared of Special Features with this movie, and I must comment that the quality of print is very poor. It looks good but the scenes when dark goes to light is very amateurish rather like a student film. I'm assured this is down to the DVD production rather than being the movie and the people who are releasing the DVD printed several thousand discs before they realised and stated "The discs will be released as they are; future prints will be corrected. We feel that the only the most critical eye will notice this error" Well done Columbia Tristar.

Basic Instinct 2 will be released on the 7th August to rent or buy. Retail price is £19.99 but you can purchase the DVD from play.com for £12.99. My advice buy your other half a bottle of plonk and rent it instead.
 

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