Review of Basic Instinct 2 (2006) by John E — 08 Jul 2011

Basic Instinct 2, the sequel to the successful thriller with the same name follows the Tramell character to London, where she sets to wreak havoc in a new fashion. The film hardly had any of the original crew as it was released some fourteen years after the original and failed to meet the standards, or even a hint thereof of its predecessor. The acting was terrible as were the script and direction, which lacked the ability the original director had. This could possibly one of the worst sequels that has ever been made and with so much hype surrounding it the film was an utter disappointment.

The direction by Michael-Caton Jones (Shooting Dogs) failed to meet the standards of the original film and let this one almost fall apart at the seams. I only say almost because the film was released. The overall concept of the film was lost as he failed to lead the actors in a direction that would have allowed for the film to be a success. He seemed to let the lines be read then was satisfied with the take and moved on. The direction lacked depth with poured out onto other aspects of the film, which is an unfortunate tragedy.

The script, written by Henry Bean (The Believer) and Leoria Barish (Venus Rising) for the film was weak to say the least. The character as revered as this one should be handled with great care and here it was thrust into a script that was not only seemed rushed, but was structurally weak. The character base was good, but it seemed to be going off in too many directions in order to create the twists needed to create enough of a plot. The problem was that there was just too much going on and it failed to create any sense of real thrill for the audience. In addition, the original had a good dark feeling surrounding it and this one failed to even meet the halfway point the original did. It just wasn't up to par and with that much time to come up with a good script, it makes it that much more disappointing.

The acting in the film was absolutely terrible. Sharon Stone (Alpha Dog) seemed to do nothing more than know her place in front of the camera and read off lines. She didn't feel them the same way she had before and just seemed to go about her business, failing to slip into character. The problem with that is it fails to uphold the previous films ability to create an unforgettable character. The male lead was taken over by David Morrissey (Derailed) who seemed a little out of his element. He did an alright job as the lead, but didn't really grasp his character and much like Stone, wasn't able to make the connection with the basis of the film. He also tended to overact in some portions of the film, although it might have been somewhat on purpose to break free of his character's otherwise bland screen presence. The main supporting cast member was David Thewlis (The New World) and he was probably the worst of the main cast. He had no ability to carry himself on screen and it made the portions of the film with him in it hard to watch. He was just terrible. The other supporting members of the cast were Indira Varma (Bride and Prejudice) and Charlotte Rampling (Vers Le Sud) who did alright but again it was nothing special. The chemistry of the cast was also quite forced and it seemed that it was a film that had the quality of a film within a film. It was just a dreadful job done all around.

Basic Instinct 2 left little to be desired by the audience. It was almost as if someone had slapped the entire thing together with the original character at the center and called it a sequel. The acting was absolutely horrible and this only mirrored the bad natured script and awful direction. The basis for this film was not very good from the start and it only got worse as the film continued. It was a sad excuse for a sequel and what made it worse was that it lessened the value of the first one and put a hindrance on the character of Catherine Tramell, making the disappoint all the more severe.