BASIC INSTINCT 2

"You are already thinking about what it is going to be like"

After the death of football star Kevin Franks (Collymore), murder mystery writer Catherine Tramell (Stone) is the prime suspect. Investigating officer detective Roy Washburn (Thewlis) calls in psychologist Dr. Michael Glass (Morrissey) to assess her state of mind before her lawyer can arrange bail. As soon as they meet however the doctor is intrigued by his new patient and her addiction to risk and he is quickly drawn into her world of sex, danger and murder.

Back in 1992 the world saw a little more of Sharon Stone than even the actress wanted you to see, now fourteen years later she loses her clothes and picks up the ice pick again.

A huge hit when it was released and raising controversy for its graphic sex scenes, having a bi-sexual protagonist and that interview room scene, 'Basic Instinct' made Sharon Stone into a superstar. As with many actresses who pass the age of forty however, her career took a nose dive and the sexy roles dried up so the idea of revisiting the character that made her famous must have been one that was too good to turn down.

Even at the age of forty-eight, Sharon Stone still has all of the sexual power that she exuded in the 90s and as Catherine Tramell she easies back into the manipulative vamp who can wind anyone around her little finger. She is the ultimate manipulator, pulling people into schemes and using her sexuality as a weapon, all material for latest novel. For Sharon Stone returning to this character proves that women can be just as sexy and powerful when they pass forty but the script and performances in the sequel don't give her the chance to inject some much needed success into her career.

For a sexual thriller there is not much sex and not many thrills. Where the first film was sexually charged and quite controversial for the time, this has absolutely nothing new to offer to the genre and is hardly shocking at all. The plot tries to twist and turn but tends just to meander along with nothing really happening. After ex-professional soccer player Stan Collymore meets his end, the film is just a poor remake of the first film with a psychologist replacing the cop. He is just as infatuated as our previous hero and is drawn into her sexual games but then he believes she is innocent and then guilty and then innocent and so on. Nothing new and nothing that is remotely interesting to the viewer.

Switching the location from San Francisco to London means that we have a British cast drawn into Catherine's web. David Morrissey just doesn't have the screen charisma or the chemistry with Sharon Stone to be a leading man. David Thewlis is just going through the motions for the pay cheque and the same can be said about Charlotte Rampling. Hugh Dancy is wasted in a small role and only Stan Collymore makes any impact.

'Basic Instinct 2' is another example of Hollywood getting desperate for ideas. When you make a sequel to a sexually charged thriller you should at least increase the thrills and the sex to draw the audience back in, especially after a fourteen year gap. Now instead we have a run of the mill, average thriller that will only have you interested in seeing if Sharon Stone still looks great naked at forty-eight.

Basic Instinct

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2006