Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction - DVD review

9 August 2006 13:00 GMT / By Dan Hall

Thirteen years, and a lot of plastic surgery, on from her last murderous outing Sharon Stone returns as beaver-flashing psychopath Catherine Trammel. After fucking/butchering half of San Francisco she now satisfies her homicidal tendencies in London, and kicks off proceedings here by killing a sex-crazed Premiership footballer – played, rather appropriately, by dogging aficionado Stan Collymore – in his sports car.

After escaping a murder rap on some hair-brained technicality she then sets her sights on criminal psychiatrist Dr. Michael Glass (Morrissey), the man who has diagnosed her as having a “Risk Addiction”.

About 3 months ago a trailer for “Basic Instinct 2” was launched onto the net featuring all manner of graphic nudity, X-Rated sex and luscious lesbian loving.

Men all over the land were instantly hooked; “Risk Addiction” was going to be just as outrageous as the 1992 soft-porn classic. Or so we thought.

In fact, it was all a clever ruse dreamed by the studio’s PR team who refused to let anyone see the film before its release in an effort to protect this illusion.

In reality, virtually all of this graphic content has been axed and what you get is like a 2-hour episode of Footballer’s Wives, but with slightly worse acting. They say that to beat an addiction you have to hit rock bottom first and Stone gives it her best shot here.

The highlight of the unnecessary extras package (surely no-one who has seen the film will want to have anything more to do with it?) is Caton-Jones’ unintentionally hilarious director’s commentary.

Praising the actors’ professionalism and congratulating himself on the final results, it is difficult to know if he is joking or has perhaps had one too many “sharpeners” and is getting confused with his excellent Rwandan civil war movie, “Shooting Dogs” - released on the same day back in March.

Elsewhere, there is an 11-minute featurette entitled “Between The Sheets”
that covers little more than the opening car crash scene, and a selection of pointless deleted scenes that don’t even have the decency to include any of the X-Rated sex scenes promised in the salacious internet trailer.

Verdict

Hamming it up in a laughable caricature of her former role it’s difficult to tell if this is actually a spoof of the original.

“Risk Addiction” is a cheap rehash of the first story minus the mystery, thrills and sex, and the constant references back to the original just serve to remind us what a fake this really is – much like Stone’s silicone chest.

Certificate: 18
Staring: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, David Thewlis, Hugh Dancy, Charlotte Rampling, Stan Collymore.
Directed by: Michael Caton-Jones
Extras: Audio commentary from director Michael Caton-Jones, Deleted scenes and alternative ending with optional audio commentary from the director, 'Between The Sheets: A Look Inside Basic Instinct 2' featurette, 'The Art Of Seduction' featurette

Score

Review Recap

Price as reviewed: £20
The good: The ending
The bad: The acting, the storyline the extras
Quick verdict: “Risk Addiction” is a cheap rehash of the first story minus the mystery, thrills and sex
Score