Review of Basic Instinct (1992) by Harry W — 03 Mar 2013

Basic Instinct gets off to a good start, thanks to the violent sex and bloody murder both in the one scene. But it soon becomes apparent that the screenplay is fairly weak and features a few too many cigarettes, and it leaves the actors with little to work with.

Also, the whole plot could have been simplified if Joe Eszterhas had bothered to think that audiences might realise that they could have dusted the first ice pick for prints and immediately figure out who the killer is.

Also, Jeanne Tripplehorn gave an unimpressive performance, but it doesn't matter because the audience would fail to look beyond her eyebrow ratio anyway.

Basic Instinct is held aloft by the utter intensity, the good lead actors and the strong blend of eroticism and thriller themes.

Michael Douglas makes a powerful and intimidating lead, in a role that reminded me of Jack Nicholson's performance as J.J. "Jake" Gittes in Chinatown. Eventually, he evolves into a character much like Catherine Tramell, and the way he develops is interesting to witness.

The standout performance and the reason that Basic Instinct is so memorable is because if the sexy and strong performance from Sharon Stone. Catherine Tramell is a strong and manipulative female character who even manages to manipulate the audience with her words and her body. Even though the audience always has a feeling that she's the killer, Sharon Stone ensures that you never know what to believe.

Their character chemistry is also very strong, since they're both supposed killers and both sexually intimidating, so it had the audience interested in where the story is going.

Basic Instinct also succeeds thanks to its strongly intense musical score which constantly had the audience left with a sense of mystery. Also thanks to the cinematography and film editing, we know that the crew was putting in the effort to make a good film.

So Basic Instinct isn't perfect, but it puts in the effort to be chilling and sexy, and it succeeds in both sectors if you overlook the stupidities.