The Pink Panther Strikes Again

The fifth Pink Panther effort might seem marginally disappointing even to diehard Clouseau fans, with slapstick gags for the pratfalling clown hung very loosely on increasingly implausible jetsetting plot antics. Lom's former Chief Inspector Dreyfus, driven mad by Clouseau's bungling and now a master criminal plotting manic, twitching revenge, shifts the series into the realm of mad scientist fantasy, full-scale exploding Bavarian castle finale and all. Added to a score of movie references, it's just enough to keep one's critical faculties anaesthetised.