If you’re at all familiar with the original "Basic Instinct", you might remember it introduced us to the world of Catherine Tramell. It is a world full of sex, drugs and the occasional death. While the film itself was no more than a fairly interesting murder mystery, it was propelled into the stratosphere by the highly publicized flash of actress Sharon Stone's… nether regions. You know, the infamous leg crossing scene. For whatever titillation this might have offered to bored and lonely men in the audience, it was somewhat heightened by the later full views of the rest of Stone's naked body. Unfortunately both were somewhat offset by the subsequent viewing of Michael Douglas' butt (an image that still gives me nightmares to this day).

The movie ended up doing great box office, so it seemed that a sequel would be imminent. Thankfully it was not to be. That sigh of relief was not to last forever, though. Last year, for reasons totally beyond my level of understanding, the decision was made to revisit the character of Catherine Tramell. The result was "Basic Instinct 2" (catchy title, don’t you think?). I doubt the powers that be, which undeniably included Stone herself, were looking to entertain a whole new audience with a cleverly written murder mystery… considering that isn’t at all what they delivered. I believe the idea was to try and re-invigorate Stone's lagging career… not that she ever really had one. For the most part, Stone got by on name alone. Well, that and the willingness to shed her clothes while attempting to act. What she forgot with this film however is that she is no longer the young nubile creature she was in the original. This isn't to say she hasn't kept herself in okay shape for a woman of… oh what does she have to be now… 60? But even with a barely passable body, a good movie needs a good script.

The story, such that it is, relocates Trammel to London. Here she continues her thrill-seeking ways. Once again a series of brutal murders start occurring, to which she is seemingly linked. Scotland Yard opts to throw her to a psychiatrist (David Morrissey) to see if he might be able to unravel the mystery that is Catherine Tramell's mind. But she does what she does best, plays mind games with him, and completely turns the tables. That's about it, not much to it. Throw in a few tepid sex scenes and you pretty much have the movie.

The version of "Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction" (kind sounds like "Police Academy 6: City Under Siege", doesn’t it) I saw on DVD the other day is touted as an Unrated edition. I really can't tell you what was added back into this version, but I can only imagine it involved Stone's acting (which if entirely edited out, might have made a better film).

As for extra features, Sony opted to include a commentary by director Michael Caton-Jones, but to be honest he doesn’t really have much to say. He keeps silent for several minutes at a time, only to blurt something out of nowhere. There are also some deleted scenes, but again there's not much here to brag about. Last, but not least, there is a 'Making of…' featurette that tries really hard to make you believe the movie is good. There are several shots of the creative team talking about what a consummate professional Stone is and the scary situations she was willing to get into during the filming (like sitting in a car under water or being in bed with David Morrissey).

At the end of the day, "Basic Instinct 2" is just another example of Hollywood's almost total disassociation from the audiences it seeks to entertain.

Directed by: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey, David Thewliss
Extras: Director Commentary, Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary, Making of Featurette
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1), Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 7/11/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Website

:We'll give Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction a D.