Basic Instinct 2Movie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 26 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Basic Instinct 2 isn't bad, exactly, but it lacks the entertaining vulgarity of the first film; it's Basic Instinct redone with more ''class'' and less thrust. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    Those hoping for either a sizzling -- or an unintentionally hilarious -- good time will be disappointed by this inexplicably dull sequel. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Morrissey gives a stiff, awkward performance, while Stone moves dangerously close to overplaying the femme fatale. There is little if any intrigue in the story or the characters. Even the murders don't even seem to matter much. Read full review

  • 38
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    It's a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. I cannot recommend the movie, but ... why the hell can't I? Just because it's godawful? What kind of reason is that for staying away from a movie? Godawful and boring, that would be a reason. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    Where is the suspense part? There is no suspense part. Suspense demands clarity of motive and action, and this screenplay never provides it. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    What we may very well be looking at here is another "Showgirls," a drag camp-fest for the "Baby Jane" crowd, fabulous fodder for future cabaret acts, and a pleasure probably best enjoyed in a crowd -- preferably a vocal one. Dead serious and stone idiotic, the only basic instinct in evidence here is desperation. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    The sequel is one big tease. Read full review

  • 25
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    The 1992 phenomenon was creepy, tense and sexually charged in a bold yet tawdry way. This sequel lacks even a shred of those elements. Read full review

  • 10
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    A disaster of the highest or perhaps lowest order. Read full review

  • 0
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The laughs to be had in this deliciously awful sequel are all unintentional. A bummer for film buffs, but a ball for fans of the misbegotten. Read full review

View more reviews for Basic Instinct 2 on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Very graphic sequel. Brain cells could be lost.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie is a hard R, with frequent sexual language and activity, nudity, violence, and profanity. Characters talk about murder and engage in violent acts (one shooting, a couple of fights, one attempted strangling). Characters talk about sex using crude language, and try to seduce one another with sultry looks and descriptions of sexual activity. Catherine wears revealing clothing. The dead bodies are gruesome (pale, frothing at the mouth from a drug overdose, neck bleeding). Characters buy drugs, Catherine smokes a joint, characters drink and smoke cigarettes.
  • Families can talk about the attention that middle-aged Sharon Stone has received for playing a sexy role. Why is it so surprising that she could still play this sort of role? Would it be as shocking if a man the same age played a similar role? Also, why do so many strong women in movies only derive power by using their sex appeal?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Novelist may be a murderer; cop may be corrupt; analyst may be a murderer: they're all selfish and cocky and unsympathetic.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Car crashes through glass into a river and character drowns in first scene; dead bodies include naked men in bed (one hung with a strap, another with syringe in his arm), and a woman (dying when found) with her throat slit; Glass fights some men in a bar; Glass tries to strangle and drown Catherine; shooting and painful hand-to-hand struggle near the end.
  • sex false5 Sex: Movie begins with masturbation in a car while driver crashes it into a river; relentless talk about sexual activity (see ""); sound of woman moaning leads viewer to think two women are having sex in a public bathroom, but it turns out to be a woman dying (her throat is cut); Catherine chokes Glass during sex in S/M scene; Catherine wears a blouse that shows her nipples; several sex scenes show naked bodies (bottoms, breasts, legs); brief references to lesbianism as taunt to Glass (nothing visible); a man is left dead/naked, hung by his bedpost (pillow is left in his lap); Catherine shows her naked breasts.
  • language false5 Language: Frequent use of the f-word (several times as slang for sexual activity); one use of c-word.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Ferrari Spider (car).
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Catherine smokes cigarettes frequently; Milena smokes once; characters drink liquor, Catherine smokes a joint.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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1.0

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Basic Instinct 2 Movie Ratings + Reviews

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