I had been looking forward to catching the sequel to "Basic Instinct", a film that was inspired by a twisted admiration for a killer that actually gets away with it and enjoys every minute of it. The original had Stone, portraying the sassy and sexy writer who might or might not be a killer (depending on what you want to believe). She was a terrific, beautiful, and intelligent manipulator who pushed every single male's, and some females' buttons. She remains as powerful and bewitching as ever, but this time, she manages to wander into a mire of banal and polluted talent.
Catherine is now in England, still seeking thrills and inspiration for what will give her another successful bestseller. Does her creativity lead to the destruction of others? Is she just "lucky" enough to wander into a pile of stupid people who surrender to her charms and find themselves involved in a mess of their own design? These are tantalizing prospects that never come to full realization in the film. Instead, we are given an awful, half-cooked mess of a script that can't ever survive the terrific sets and some new provocative outfits for Stone.
Her poses are still effective and were the only things that kept me from slapping a zero on this film, but she can't fight everything that is wrong with this movie. In fact, there are a couple of things when we see how powerful an actress and incredible her Catharine could be in the right film. The closing scene hints at what could have been as she slowly details the plot of her novel to one of her victims. These last minutes show how much the camera can love an actress with the magnetic star power Stone has, but it is not enough. One can only wish she doesn't go the way of Indiana Jones, and someone gives us the opportunity to see her in her full glory (no pun intended).
Too bad.
Catherine is now in England, still seeking thrills and inspiration for what will give her another successful bestseller. Does her creativity lead to the destruction of others? Is she just "lucky" enough to wander into a pile of stupid people who surrender to her charms and find themselves involved in a mess of their own design? These are tantalizing prospects that never come to full realization in the film. Instead, we are given an awful, half-cooked mess of a script that can't ever survive the terrific sets and some new provocative outfits for Stone.
Her poses are still effective and were the only things that kept me from slapping a zero on this film, but she can't fight everything that is wrong with this movie. In fact, there are a couple of things when we see how powerful an actress and incredible her Catharine could be in the right film. The closing scene hints at what could have been as she slowly details the plot of her novel to one of her victims. These last minutes show how much the camera can love an actress with the magnetic star power Stone has, but it is not enough. One can only wish she doesn't go the way of Indiana Jones, and someone gives us the opportunity to see her in her full glory (no pun intended).
Too bad.