Pink Panther, The

Aroview: Brave but rather misconceived reinvention of the iconic Peter Sellers role has Steve Martin filling the idiotically-contrary Detective Clouseau's shoes in a 'prequel' designed to show how he came to prominence in the case of a murdered soccer coach and the 'pink panther' diamond.

Lacking Sellers' genius for portraying poetic incompetence, Martin substitutes with his usual fruitier, broader style, especially accentuating jokes about French mispronunciations and other peripheral matters. Even so, there are a gaggle of star cameos and some snow-balling slapstick to provide a few decent chuckles. However, true followers may want to swiftly cleanse the experience by revisiting one of those 1960s-70s classics.