MovieChat Forums > Basic Instinct 2 (2006) Discussion > The Ending Saves It

The Ending Saves It

posted 15 years ago by Iwishyouwell
4 replies | jump to latest

The movie is horrid. And not because it isn't competently directed, or because Stone and company are awful, indeed it's actually well casted with a fine assortment of actors, but just awful because it's so absolutely...mediocre. Basic Instinct was a lot of things, but no one could ever call it medicore.

But I have to give credit where credit is due, I really think the ending scene at the hospital goes a very long way toward helping redeem this tripe. It was actually the first time Stone and Morrissey display viable chemistry, the acting between them in this scene was the best either did the entire film over, and it completely revitalizes the Glass character from the dull, easy to *beep* over pansy he appearted to be the entire film over. One of the reasons the original worked on some level was because Nick felt time enough for Catherine, a real challenge. I kept thinking that Catherine seems a little over the top, and campy, because her prey is so damn weak.

However in just a few minutes we learn that this guy could indeed be Catherine's soulmate. He is every bit as twisted, brilliant, and calculating as her, and I finally got why the two of them were drawn to one another from the get go. They're each a mirror for the other.

There isn't a lot good I can see about this film, and the script is so bad it bares mentioning. Thewlis is top notch, as always, Stone still strikes a sexy figure, and amongst the sea of clunky dialoge a couple true gems do rise, but that's about it, save the ending. Reminds me of the first "Saw" movie, another mediocre movie with a twist that just barely makes it all worth your time.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] AndYouMayCallMeV 14 years ago

MASSIVE SPOILERS

I agree: what she sees in him from the outset is that he's every bit as controlling, arrogant, and narcissistic as she is, and for that she destroys him. The final twist of the knife is telling him this story in his drugged-up state realizing he probably will believe it, will say it to his therapist, and will stay in the psychiatric hospital the rest of his days. I find just as interesting the control she seems to have gained over Milena, who (like most other people in the movie) behaves in a horribly unprofessional way in not letting Michael defend himself (not that he really can, of course: Catherine has seen to that) before effectively arranging his professional downfall.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hyperium13 11 years ago

It was the highlight to an otherwise flawed film. I remember thinking this seems to go on for awhile, which is rare for a film to sort of go over the edge with a long monologue. The scene at the end (if I remember correctly) seemed Hitchcockian only in the aspect that it was so long and filled with only dialogue. I thought it was very interesting scene. Unfortunately most of the film didn't work.