The original 1994 BASIC INSTINCT had a detective investigating a series of sex murders in which the suspect - a seductive woman seems too obvious to be the killer.  In the updated 2006 version, Sharon Stone reprises her role as Catherine Tramell.  This time, relative unknown David Morrissey replaces Michael Douglas as a respected criminal psychiatrist caught in black widow’s web of murder.

BASIC INSTINCT 2 relocates the plot from San Francisco to London.  (Sharon Stone is the only American in the film.) Filmed around Waterloo Bridge by the Thames and supposedly about Soho (though I do not recognize any of the stores), novelist Tramell (Stone) is in trouble again doing her thing.  Where Tramell goes, murder follows.  Dr. Michael Glass (Morrissey of the recent DERAILED), the famed London criminal psychiatrist is appointed to evaluate her.  She enters his personal life, and Dr. Glass’ ex-wife, her lover and others get viciously killed.  In the process of the investigation, 48-year old Stone gets to show her tits and seduce her prey.  All this sounds more interesting than it actually is, as Caton-Jones moves his film as a snail’s pace – not to mention that we have all seen this before in the earlier BASIC INSTINCT when Stone was much younger.  (Stone reportedly got $14 million for this sequel compared to $500,000 for the original.)

The film’s poor plotting and the fact that no one really cares who the killer is do not help hold the film’s interest.  Brit actor David Thewlis is pretty good as Detective Roy Washburn, the dirty dick who will manipulate evidence to put someone guilty away.  It is only when the line thins out on whether Tramell or Washburn might be the killer that the film starts to hold any interest.  BI 2 also contains perhaps the worst line of dialogue written this year for the screen: “Tell her the truth!” shouts Dr. Glass to Tramell, hoping that she will tell her intended victim (Charlotte Rampling) that she is going to kill her.

But for fans of the original BASIC INSTINCT, BI 2 can be taken as pure ‘harmless’ fun.  Sharon Stone still looks magnificently sexy for a 48-year old – but the first is still much better.  Dutch director Paul Verhoeven knew how to make a violent sexy shocker.  BASIC INSTINCT 2 – more like a whodunit - lies nowhere in comparison.