The Pink Panther (2006)

I was always a fan of The Pink Panther cartoon that sometimes aired on the Cartoon Network and I was well aware of the Peter Sellers version of The Pink Panther, but I've never viewed a full film. So for today while I was cruising Youtube, I figured I would watch the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther that was directed by Shawn Levy (Night At The Museum). The film stars Steve Martin (Cheaper By The Dozen) as the world famous Inspector Clouseau who gets hired to solve a case that involves the French National team coach (Jason Statham) getting killed and the Pink Panther diamond is stolen from him. Clouseau will have to do his best because there are those that rooting against him because his boss may have had the wrong intentions when hiring him. The film also stars  Jean Reno (Ronin) as Ponton, Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West) as Dreyfus, Beyoncé (The Lion King) as Xania, Emily Mortimer (Lars And The Real Girl) as Nicole, Henry Czerny (Ready Or Not) as Yuri, Kristin Chenoweth (BoJack Horseman) as Cherie, Roger Rees (If Looks Could Kill) as  Raymond Larocque, Philip Goodwin (Men In Black II) as Renard, William Abadie (Sex In The City) as Bizu, and Clive Owen (Children Of Men) as Agent 006.

There were times when the film was just OK as far as humor was concerned because a lot of the intrigue of The Pink Panther is physical slapstick comedy and that can only be so funny at times especially when you've seen the same stunt done in a million other films. Then there were times in the film when they had some honest comedy and that was funnier than the slapstick stuff like Clouseau trying to learn how to say hamburger and then seeing it done in a real situation where he still can't say it correctly. I definitely enjoyed have Jean Reno in the film because I thought he was the perfect counterpart for Martin where he was very dry and almost didn't say a lot. You could say that he was the perfect sidekick for Clouseau and it worked because Reno was great. The funny thing is that even though you are looking for the killer in the film, the real villain of the film isn't even the killer. The real villain of the film is Clouseau's boss played by Klein who just wants Clouseau to screw things up so that he can sweep in and save the day and look like the real hero. So, it was kind of cool to have that in the film because it makes you want the bumbling idiot to succeed. One of the positives of the film was definitely the great cinematography from the stadium to the streets in France to the scenes in New York City and the hotel. The film overall was a lot of fun to watch and that's kind of how you have to look at it. With all that being said, I am going to go ahead and give the film an B for a final grade.

The Lion King (2019)

Disney has been on this kick as of late that since technology has greatly improved since the release of several of their original films that they would try to bring some to life. I believe it all started with Beauty And The Beast and in 2019 they moved on to another classic Disney film. In 1994, Disney would release what can be considered to be one of the greatest animated films in their arsenal in The Lion King. Fast forward 25 years later and they have decided to make it come alive in a live action film with CGI. While King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) celebrates the birth of his son ho is the rightful heir to the throne, his brother Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) sits in the background in jealousy waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When he does, he convinces young Simba (JD McCrary) that it was all his fault so he runs away never to return. Fast forward some years later and Simba (Donald Glover) is convinced to return to claim his rightful place and avenge his father. The film also stars Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs) as Pumbaa, John Oliver (The Smurfs) as Zazu, Beyoncé as Nala, Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu) as Kamari, Billy Eichner (Angry Birds) as Timon, Florence Kasumba (Black Panther) as Shenzi, Penny Johnson Jerald (24) as Sarafina, and the film was directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man).

I hate to dog a movie right from the get go because I love to build up films a little only to deliver what I didn't like at the end. I am doing the opposite with this one because what are the rules of remaking a film nevermind a classic? I honestly feel that if you are going to remake a film, you need to bring something fresh to the table. Don't just say that you'll give them an emotionless live action film and just expect us to eat it all up and be happy. The thing that was great about the original was that they showed exactly what emotions they were going through so that would could understand the excitement or the hurt that they were going through. Basically they did absolutely nothing new to the film and if I wanted to I could go to a zoo or take a trip the African Safari and I could pretend that they were reenacting The Lion King. The only cool thing about the film was the fact that they got James Earl Jones to come back and voice Mufasa once again which was awesome. The other thing I didn't like was the look of Scar because in the original he looked like a Lion that was just a little shady and conniving. In this one, he looks like a rescue Lion that was abused by it's original owners and he certainly looked like he was no shape to take over a kingdom. I mean I think Nala could have stood a chance against Scar. I hate dogging the film, but this may have been a better film if they only did it better than they did with emotions if that makes any sense? The only plus side is that Seth Rogen absolutely knocked it out of the park as Pumbaa like he was the perfect person to play him. The film was crisp, great cinematography, but everything else just sets it back a bit to the point that this film gets a C+/B- (somewhere in there) for a final grade.