The Pink Panther

Some remakes are doomed to failure before the director calls "Action!" on the first day of principal photography.

Shawn Levy's version of The Pink Panther attempts the impossible: To reinvent bumbling Inspector Clouseau without the comedic genius of Peter Sellers.

Steve Martin wisely doesn't attempt to impersonate his illustrious predecessor, playing the moustachioed gendarme as a genius amongst buffoons, who always solves the case, but in the most unorthodox, roundabout manner possible.

Thus, when Clouseau and his sidekick Ponton (Reno) need to infiltrate a society party unseen, they don spandex bodysuits bearing a wallpaper design, allowing both men to seamlessly blend into the background of the stakeout location.

Unfortunately, much of the comedy verges on the moronic and illogical.

The Pink Panther does have a couple of sparkling sequences: Clouseau learning to speak American and an earthenware double entendre skit ("I would like to take a closer look at your bowls!")

For the most part, however, the film merits half-hearted chuckles rather than full-blooded belly laughs.

Martin flings himself full pelt into each impending disaster, while Reno and Kline are both wasted.

Beyonce slinks in a variety of flattering frocks and trills two songs on the soundtrack including the sultry "A Woman Like Me", reducing the big finale to a music pop video for the Destiny's Child diva.

Hardly the cat's whiskers.