Best selling crime/erotica author Catherine Trammel (Sharon Stone), originally from San Francisco but now living in London is interrogated by the police after a tragic accident leaves her car in the bottom of the sea with her male passenger dead. Trammel wants to prove her innocence but as a previous murder suspect this isn’t going to be easy.
She is forced to be evaluated by experienced psychiatrist Dr Michael Glass (David Morrissey) however it’s clear right from the start that he’s not going to have an easy task on his hands. With Trammels blatant sex appeal and manipulative ways it’s not long before he finds himself enamoured by her however when people start to die around them Trammel is once again the prime suspect but what does she really want with Michael?
This is the follow up to cult classic Basic Instinct released way back in 1992, 14 years on in 2006 they finally got around to releasing the sequel. The film is basically just a regurgitated version of the first, far superior film and it’s clear that even though this film is no more than 3 years old it still appears very dated. The days for erotic thrillers are far gone, the early 90’s was the time when films like Fatal Attraction captivated audiences and when Michael Douglas became the huge star that he is today. I feel that they left it
far too long to release a sequel.
The only aspect of this film that looks even slightly credible is Sharon Stone, lets face it if she refused to reprise her best known role as the seductive honey trap Catherine Trammel there would be no movie. The first Basic Instinct made her into a global sex symbol and it’s amazing that 14 years on she still has the face and the body of a 25 year old when in reality she was pushing 50. Although Michael Douglas played a believable role in the first film, to my mind it wouldn’t have been the huge success it was if it wasn’t for Sharon Stone. She manages to encapsulate every man’s fantasy with that added hint of danger to top it all off. She portrays those same traits in Basic Instinct 2 however she didn’t seem to play the role half as well as she did 14 years previous. She still manages to retain the brazen and unconcealed sex appeal which I’m sure will please a lot of the eager male audience that were hoping for a repeat of the steamy scenes from the last film however for me, she seems to be trying a little too hard. In the first film she was able to encapsulate that menacing yet sexy persona with ease but second time around seems forced and awkward and was a bit of a disappointment. I do think it’s great that they didn’t recast Sharon Stone’s character to a younger more ‘in’ actress of the time because even at 48 years old she still looks fantastic and I can’t think of any other actress that could play this role as well as Sharon Stone managing to be sultry and ominous yet strangely likeable at the same time.
Then there’s her co-star David Morrissey; if you thought Sharon Stone’s performance was questionable then wait until David Morrissey comes onscreen. In the first film, Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas had electric chemistry together which is what aided the film in becoming such a huge success, David Morrissey on the other hand gives one of the most contrived, awkward and simply dire performances I think I’ve ever seen on screen. There is indeed nothing redeemable about his character whatsoever and whenever he was onscreen I just felt like cringing. David Morrissey managed to grate on my nerves beyond belief, he was trying so hard to appear like he was losing control and being subjected to Catherine’s honey trap however the way he portrays this is absolutely beyond belief and you’ll almost feel sorry for himself at some points because his character is so embarrassing. The director tried to add some substance to David Morrissey’s painfully one dimensional character by the introduction of a back story, this could have worked well if David Morrissey didn’t make his character out to be the most bland character I’ve ever seen in the movie. I’m not usually a huge fan of Michael Douglas but at least he managed to give his character a personality.
The film begins quickly, we’re immediately greeted by Catherine Trammel driving at speed with her footballer lover clearly inebriated in the passenger seat, after events take a turn for the worst things start to go tragically downhill from there. In the opening sequence a fair bit of tension is built up however subsequent to this scene the whole film falls apart. The storyline tries to confuse the viewer with all it’s twists and turns and it that sense it’s also like the first film, you’ll have Michael turning up just after a murder (coincidentally) and all the evidence will point to Trammel before she wraps everyone around her little finger.
The film tries hard to take the audience down a completely different route to the first film but fails spectacularly, there’s red herrings galore in the film which quickly become easy to spot and ultimately laughable. One of the most recognisable red herrings is where Sharon Stone is sat in the psychiatrists chair and she uncrosses her legs however you don’t get the view that you do in the first film, it’s obviously just there to get the male viewers attention because by that point they (and everyone else) will probably be drifting off to sleep.
The steamy sex scenes were something that the first film has become famous for, they try so hard to recreate them in this film but seem to try way too hard. At one point in the film we witness Catherine being whisked off seemingly against her will into a brothel, only to be found minutes later engaging in an orgy, it seems incomprehensible to me that they put this scene in the movie as it’s utterly ludicrous. There’s no reason for her to be there and for someone who tries hard to put her sex appeal out there for the world to see in a sultry and alluring way for her to be in a brothel completely negates this.
I wouldn’t recommend this film at all, the acting is completely substandard, unfortunately even Sharon Stone reprising her infamous role couldn’t give this film a much needed boost. The story itself is absolute tripe and you’ll find yourself cringing with embarrassment at numerous parts throughout. The script is again not worthy of the original film and if it took them 14 years to come up with this I wonder what they would have subjected us to if they had only been given 7 years… doesn’t bare thinking about! It’s watchable but only once and don’t go out of your way to see it.
The DVD is available from play.com for £4.99.
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has a funny way of holding your attention. It's not just Sharon Stone's trash-talk and occasional nudity that keeps you watching, but also the way she gamely earns...
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(Morrissey) is charismatic, highly respected and at the top of his game. When Detective Superintendent Washburn (Thewlis) asks Glass to analyse a beautiful woman who has ...
Despite its inevitable fate as a critically reviled box-office flop,Basic Instinct 2sure ... more
has a funny way of holding your attention. It's not just Sharon Stone's trash-talk and occasional nudity that keeps you watching, but also the way she gamely earns...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: Dreadful acting, terrible direction, woeful production values and abysmal script Disadvantages: It made me laugh, though I don't think it was supposed to
afy9mab 23.04.2006 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of BasicInstinct2 (DVD)
![Basic Instinct 2 (Uncut Version) [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78472760.jpg "Basic Instinct 2 (Uncut Version) [DVD] [2006]")
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