If hearing the name Inspector Clouseau induces nightmarish flashbacks of Steve Martin mistaking mangled French for comedy gold, a Peter Sellers retrospective is in order. Martin first took on the role of the bumbling Clouseau in 2006 reboot The Pink Panther. Critics mocked the film but it was financially successful enough to spawn a painfully unfunny sequel, heaping further shame on the legacy of a character brought into existence by a true comedy icon. The original version of The Pink Panther, released in 1963, was an ensemble piece conceived as a showcase for David Niven, who played the jewel thief in the amusing crime caper. However, Peter Sellers unwittingly became the star turn as the hapless detective on Nivens tail, and several subsequent films in the series switched focus to follow the exploits of Inspector Clouseau. In A Shot in the Dark, which was released just a few months after The Pink Panther, Clouseau is called on to investigate the murder of a staff member in a country home, prompting a succession of mishaps, pratfalls and slapstick of the highest order. An all-too-uncommon example of a comedy sequel surpassing its predecessor, A Shot in the Dark is worthy of a place on any list of classic comedies and does more than enough to distinguish itself as a comedy sequel of rare quality. Anything we missed? Give your favourite comedy sequels a shout out below.
I watch movies and I watch sport. I also watch movies about sport, and if there were a sport about movies I'd watch that too. The internet was the closest thing I could find.
