Lesley-Anne Down

(On Cable TV, May 2020) Hey, there’s no accounting for taste, and that’s how I can say both that I don’t care all that much about the Peter Sellers-focused Pink Panther series and that I like The Pink Panther Strikes Again better than the others. There’s no good reason for this. I’m not even watching them in order, nor in any rapid succession. But there’s something I like in this instalment’s shift to a slightly different, more grandiose scope. As the film begins, Inspecteur Clouseau once again angers his nemesis Dreyfus, and—having driven him completely insane—leads Dreyfus to get a scientist to create a world-threatening weapon. Thus, being closer to James Bond parody (complete with warring self-defeating assassins) than anything else in the series so far, The Pink Panther Strikes Again feels a bit fresher. Director Blake Edwards’ penchant for big comic physical set-pieces is indulged, and there’s enough space in-between those bits for Sellers to overindulge in weird accents and mugging for the camera. Meanwhile, Lesley-Anne Down doesn’t have enough to do. It’s not that good, but not that bad either, and it’s relatively watchable even if some of the series conventions (such as Clouseau getting a new girl every movie) are definitely annoying. Eh—I’ve seen worse than The Pink Panther Strikes Again, especially in other Pink Panther instalments.