Plot
When master thief "The Tornado" steals priceless artifacts from around the world, the French government assembles a "Dream Team" of investigators to solve the case. Meanwhile, Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the detectives in Japan, where The Tornado's latest heist occurred, despite Clouseau stating him leaving France would result in the Pink Panther diamond left unguarded. After Clouseau crosses the "borders" of France at an airport gate, news then breaks that the Pink Panther diamond has been stolen. Clouseau meets the rest of the Dream Team: Detective Chief Inspector Randall Pepperidge from Great Britain; Vincenzo Brancaleoni, a businessman from Italy; Kenji Mazuto, a technology expert from Japan; and Sonia Solandres, a criminologist from India, who arrives from a delayed flight. During the case, Vincenzo becomes smitten with Nicole, Clouseau's girlfriend; Clouseau attempts to dissuade him, but Vincenzo continuously relays the insults to Nicole.
The team goes to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda. Assuming Avellaneda is The Tornado, the Dream Team questions him while Clouseau snoops around. Avellaneda lacks a characteristic bullet wound The Tornado received years ago, so the detectives leave. Later, he meets with the real Tornado. That night, Clouseau and his partner Ponton spy on Avellaneda at a restaurant using an audio bug. The mission is compromised when they find Vincenzo and Nicole having dinner there. Banned from the restaurant for accidentally burning it down months earlier, Clouseau disguises himself as a dancer and switches the bug to Nicole's table, inadvertently burning down the restaurant again in the process.
Meanwhile, The Tornado steals the Pope's ring, souring public opinion against the Dream Team. When Clouseau's incompetence aggravates the situation, he is voted off the team. Clouseau is later called to an office and finds that The Tornado, a man named Laurence Milliken, has killed himself, leaving a note claiming he destroyed the Pink Panther – considering it so beautiful that he could not allow anyone else to own it – and left the other treasures to be recovered. Examining a key found in the Pope's Chambers, the Dream Team match the dead man's DNA with the one recovered from when The Tornado was shot and believe they have solved the case. However, Clouseau remains unconvinced.
A celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor, although Clouseau is uninvited. While wandering near the party, Clouseau sees the license plate of Sonia's car and calls Ponton. Clouseau then tells Dreyfus that Sonia is the real thief, but is ignored. Dreyfus tells Clouseau's theory to the group, who jokingly work out a plausible explanation: as The Tornado's ex-lover, she would have in-depth knowledge of his methods, and could have drawn attention to the thefts of the other artifacts, leaving her free to sell the diamond. Nicole, realizing Clouseau could be correct, asks Sonia to empty her purse. After initially trying to leave, Sonia pulls out a gun, threatening to shoot Nicole, before shooting Clouseau. However, the bullet ricochets off his Légion d'honneur medal. A chase ensues, with the Dream Team suffering due to various accidents caused by Clouseau's clumsiness. Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the diamond and, goaded by Clouseau, she does. Before she can escape, however, Sonia is knocked out by Ponton and arrested.
Clouseau reveals that Sonia destroyed a fake gem, as Clouseau kept the real diamond in his possession to protect it. Before Clouseau left France, The Pink Panther at the museum was swapped with a replica he owned. Furthermore, The Tornado, an expert on gems, would have recognized the fake diamond, allowing Clouseau to deduce that his suicide note was forged, and The Tornado was actually murdered. Clouseau had given a ticket to Sonia's car one day before the diamond was stolen – contradicting her alibi of being delayed to the original crime scene by her flight. This confirmed to him that Sonia was the culprit and that she used the Dream Team, and (implicitly) Clouseau's mishaps, as a strategic cover.
Later, Clouseau marries Nicole in a ceremony officiated by Dreyfus and attended by the Dream Team, especially Pepperidge, who showed up in a pink ballet tutu as per his deal, should Clouseau be the one that solves the case. The wedding ends in chaos when Dreyfus accidentally destroys a security camera with a champagne cork, summoning the Black Berets. In the ensuing confusion, Clouseau and Nicole leave for their honeymoon, passing by the animated Pink Panther on their way out. Following this, the Panther invites himself to the chaos.
