  Sharon Stone stretches out in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, now out on DVD.
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Don't tell Sharon Stone she can't uncross her legs like she used to.
At 48, the sinewy sex object, who became a sensation for letting the world be her gynecologist in 1992's Basic Instinct, appears hellbent on proving to the world she can still fornicate with the best -- or worst -- of 'em. Throughout this never-awaited sequel, she lathers on the sexual innuendo with a chiseled severity that's borderline desperate. And maybe you'd even appreciate her moxie if you weren't so busy giggling.
The chief problem -- of many, granted -- is Stone is apparently under the impression the first Instinct was Shakespeare.
Fact is, it's a terrible movie -- over-ripe to the point of exhaustion -- but Michael Douglas and director Paul Verhoeven recognized it as such and, to great success, never pretended to be anything but perpetrators of high-gloss trash. Nor did it hurt, it should be said, that they enrolled Stone, then a virtual unknown, in their lavishly lewd endeavour. For Instinct 2, however, Stone is the only returning member of that triumphantly sinful triumvirate and, emboldened by a producer's title, is calling the shots. Her first mistake? Replacing Verhoeven -- an auteur with an affinity for all things lurid -- with Michael Canton-Jones, who transplants Stone's bisexual, icepick-wielding sociopath Catherine Tramell from San Francisco to the monochromatic landscapes of London.
Next mistake? Casting dullard David Morrissey as Catherine's prey, a shrink assigned to evaluate Tramell after she drives her car off a London bridge while a soccer star, ahem, pleasures her. Apparently Stone, fearing she might be upstaged by a male adversary with a molecule of charisma, instead cast an actor with the depth and complexion of drywall.
As a result, what should be a scintillating battle of sex and wits is as thrilling as watching a senile 20-year-old cat swat a catatonic mouse.
So bad is Basic 2 that it even drags down a surprisingly fine supporting cast, notably David Thewlis as a crooked detective and Charlotte Rampling as a psychiatrist.
EXTRAS: Naturally, the DVD arrives in dual editions -- one containing the theatrical version and an unrated one that's slightly longer and features 10 deleted scenes which will leave you feeling much more lukewarm than hot and bothered. There's also a commentary from Canton-Jones and a by-the-numbers making-of documentary.
BASIC INSTINCT 2
STARS: Sharon Stone, David Morrissey and Charlotte Rampling
DIRECTED BY: Michael Canton-Jones
IN BRIEF: Stone reprises her role as serial killer Catherine Tramell in the sequel to the hit 1992 erotic thriller.
RATING: 1 out of 5
