Basic Instinct 2

Review by Jason Donner

I never thought I'd ever say this, but where is Joe Eszterhas when you need him? In other words, exactly how unerotic and unthrilling can an erotic thriller get? If you need an answer to that, take a look at Basic Instinct 2.

This time around Catherine (Sharon Stone), the sexual predator from the first movie, is in Europe and has a car accident that kills her boyfriend. Not that huge of a thing other than the fact that they're both on drugs and having sex at 100 miles per hour.

Catherine is investigated for murder and is evaluated by a shrink (David Morrissey). The Shrink ends up as Catherine’s new plaything... partly because she's a sexual deviant, he's rather handsome, and he is unable to see through Catherine's most obvious deceptions.

This guy is way too stupid to be a psychiatrist.

From this point on, Basic Instinct 2 basically follows the exact same plot of the first Basic Instinct only with less finesse and brains. Any idiot can see where this movie is going and yet the main characters seem oblivious.

Any mystery movie where the audience is more attuned to what's going on than the characters is never a good thing.

So, what are we left with? A sexual romp? Not really. Most of what we see is watered down and implied. Big sex scenes aren't gratuitous and they aren't erotic. They almost feel like space fillers.

This sequel is ten years too late and lacks all of the things that made the first movie such an enjoyable trashy feast. The tension isn't there, the sex is very blah, and the mystery isn't a mystery.

What we have instead is a lot of talking, a lot of characters chasing their own tails, and a lot of Sharon Stone mugging for the camera and delivering what must be the worst performance of her already poor career and if you've kept up with her career, you know that's saying something. I actually felt sorry for the cooing and purring former starlet who - I must admit - for being almost as old as my mom still looks wicked hot.

Morrissey doesn't help either and give such a flat performance that it's hard to believe that any woman - much less Catherine - would have any interest in him. What a deadweight.

All that being said, I can't say that this is a horrible movie... just boring, tedious, and unnecessary. There's no danger, no thrills, no controversy, and little interest in this kind of movie anymore beyond the garbage shown on Cinemax at two in the morning.

I think the only one who was actually anticipating this movie was Sharon Stone herself.  Hopefully, this will end that egomaniac's love affair with herself for a while at least. I mean, come on... let's be serious. Her only real claim to fame is showing her vagina on the big screen.