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The Movie: A sequel no one was asking for to a movie that many probably only remember one scene from, "Basic Instinct 2" arrives 14 years after the original and seemed to leave theaters about 14 days after it opened. There's a certain kind of joy to be had in a movie that's this much of a disaster, as one wonders how a production this major was allowed to go so completely off-the-rails. Unintentionally entertaining in its own bizarre way, the picture is over-the-top (and then some) terrible. The sequel sees the return of Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone), now a novelist living in London and seen in the opening scene having a passionate fling with a soccer player in a sportscar racing down a surprisingly empty street. Trammell runs off the road, through what appears to be a random glass wall and into the river. Trammell is the one to make it out of the car, and she's quickly arrested. Court-appointed psychiatrist Michael Glass (David Morrissey, so bland that he practically vanishes into the background) is asked to rule on her sanity (she's "addicted to risk", apparently.) He takes the evaluation seriously, she sees it as a goof and, not surprisingly, spots an easy target for manipulation in Glass. Here's the first of the film's many major issues: Stone's character here needs a strong male performance to go up against and the odd mismatch of her and Morrissey provides just the opposite: the actor (I've never seen him in anything else - while he may be great elsewhere, he's terrible here) looks almost dazed, and gives a low-intensity effort that gets wiped off the screen by Stone's scenery-chewing. We're supposed to believe that he falls under her spell (and she manipulates everyone around him) when Morrissey barely registers on-screen. Director Michael Canton-Jones takes over for Paul Verhoven and the results are a downer in almost every regard. The movie is unintentionally fun and trashy, to be sure - but at least a different director could have made the picture a bit more enthusiastically so: Canton-Jones works in a style as chilly as Stone's character and doesn't manage to give the picture the kind of intensity it sorely needs. Additionally, no one is helped by the script from the husband & wife team of Leora Barish & Henry Bean, which provides some silly one-liners (said with utter seriousness by the cast, with the great David Thewlis and Charlotte Rampling managing to click in very minor parts) and a plot that takes a while to begin to get going. For those who like some cheddar on your popcorn, "Basic Instinct 2" is a prime piece of grade-A bad filmmaking. Had director Michael Canton-Jones realized the state of the material and decided to have a bit more fun with it (as Stone does with her performance - everyone else seems restrained in comparison) and had the Glass role not been so miscast, the film may have been more watchable. The unrated edition offers another 2 minutes of racy footage. The DVD VIDEO: "Basic Instinct 2" is presented by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is generally excellent, as the sleek picture appeared consistently crisp and well-defined throughout, with no noticable softness. However. while the majority of the film appeared clean and clear, there were still a few minor issues to contend with, including some slight edge enhancement, a couple of specks on the print and a few minor traces of pixelation. The film's rather subdued color palette appeared accurately presented, with no smearing or other issues. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation was rather tame, although given the fact that the movie is largely dialogue-driven, the lack of activity is expected. Surrounds do kick in infrequently to provide some mild ambience, reinforcement of the score or a couple of sound effects but again, they're mostly silent. Audio quality is fine, with crisp dialogue, a rich-sounding score and clear effects. EXTRAS: Director Michael Canton-Jones offers up an audio commentary for the feature. The director remains positive about the picture, despite how the picture fared upon release. Although his praise for aspects of the picture gets rather much, the director at least does share some stories from the set and attempts to explain what he was going for with the film. Also included here are a short "making of" featurette called "Between the Sheets" and 10 deleted scenes (including an alternate ending similar to the one in the final film) with optional commentary from the director. Previews for other titles from the studio are also offered. Final Thoughts: Stone vamps it up in her scenes, but everything else seems too restrained - especially Morrissey, who doesn't match up with Stone at all. The DVD offers fine audio/video quality and a nice set of supplements. Fans of the original who are interested in checking out the sequel should try it as a rental. Everyone else should skip it. 
Film Grade The Film D+ DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 88/B Extras: 80/B- |