Basic Instinct 2

Sharon Stone is back as libidinous femme fatale Catherine Tramell, this time in London, suspected of murdering a soccer star who drowned when her car went into the Thames while she swam to safety. Her mind-game victim here is a psychiatrist (David Morrissey) appointed by the Queen’s Bench to evaluate her; needless to say, the poor sap doesn’t stand a chance. Leora Barish and Henry Bean’s script makes the usual bush-league sequel mistakes—it’s been 14 years since Basic Instinct, but they have Stone talking as though absolutely nothing has happened since then. Michael Caton-Jones directs with bland disinterest, but Stone hams it up with the campy relish of a drag queen doing Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest. It’s sleazy and outlandish but OK for the guilty-pleasure file if you’re in the mood.