Johnny English Strikes Again review

JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN:

ASIDE FROM A FEW LAUGHS, IT’S MUCH OF THE SAME!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Rowan Atkinson in Johnny English Strikes Again

            Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Rat Race, Scooby-Doo) returns as bumbling MI7 agent, Johnny English in Johnny English Strikes Again, the third installment in the Johnny English film series dating back to 2003. I remembered being 9 or 10 years old when the first movie was being advertised and thought “This looks really stupid!” I didn’t even bother seeing it in the theater, it looked so dumb to me, a similar response I had regarding Mr. Bean’s Holiday in 2007 (Apparently, I was an evil child back then).

            I eventually warmed up to it and decided to give it a watch when it came out on DVD and it was pretty funny. Is it a dumb movie? Undeniably, but through well-timed slapstick and jokes, homages/parodies of popular spy movies, particularly James Bond, and Atkinson’s dopey but likable portrayal of the character, ended up being a box-office hit, despite its mixed critical reception and a nice introduction to Rowan Atkinson’s comedy for a lot of kids.

            The exact same thing happened to me when its sequel, Johnny English Reborn was released in 2011. I thought this was going to be the one that would crash and burn, not to mention I was starting my senior year of high school when it was coming out, so I wasn’t really seeing movies like this at the time, but like its predecessor I watched it at home and it turned out to be funny.

            After watching the second film, I thought for sure it would be the end of this buffoonish spy, give him seven years and you got the third film. Unlike its predecessors, I came in with some excitement but tried to keep an open mind and…it’s the one that crashes and burns unfortunately.

            I wouldn’t go as far to calling it awful and it still has some legitimately funny moments, but compared to the first two, it’s just more of the same and left me feeling disappointed. Very often while the movie was playing I thought “Oh, there’s Rowan Atkinson being a doofus again!” or “Here’s that gag again!”, these are signs that his Johnny English character is wearing thin.

            When a massive cyber-attack strikes the MI7 and exposes the identities of all their current field agents, they are forced to reinstate an older agent as Britain’s last hope. They enlist Johnny English (Atkinson), now working as a geography teacher who secretly trains his students in the art of espionage, to track down the culprits behind the attack with the help of his sidekick, Bough (Ben Miller-The Armstrong & Miller Show, Death in Paradise, Paddington 2) and a beautiful yet seductive Russian spy, Ophelia (Olga Kurylenko-Hitman, Quantum of Solace, Oblivion), before these mysterious cyber criminals launch another attack so big it will make the entire world go dark.

            The film also stars Emma Thompson (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Nanny McPhee 1 and 2, Men in Black 3) as the British Prime Minister, Adam James (Band of Brothers, De-Lovely, Last Chance Harvey) as Pegasus, Jake Lacy (Better with You, The Office, Carol) as Jason Volta, Pippa Bennett-Warner (Patient Zero, Silent Witness, Sick Note) as Lesley, Miranda Hennessy (Give Out Girls, Pramface, The Royals) as Tara, Matthew Beard (And When Did You Last See Your Father?, An Education, The Imitation Game) as P, and Pauline McLynn (Father Ted, Shameless, EastEnders) as Mrs. Trattner.

            Overall, Johnny English Strikes Again doesn’t “Strike” as hard as it should and just has Rowan Atkinson acting like an idiot for an hour and a half with a few legit laughs jumbled into a lacking and uninspired script. I’m not acting like the first two got it right, all the Johnny English movies are dumb movies and have very recycled plots, but they felt fresh at the time and even the sequel had some variety in jokes.

            Here, it feels like the script was written and the movie was made simply for a paycheck, the writers have clearly run out of ideas and there’s really nowhere else you can take the character. So, they decided not to try and instead do Johnny English paint by numbers with a lot of “Been there, done that” gags and plot points and very little imagination and wit.

            With that said, there are some funny moments in here, such as a scene where English disguises himself as a waiter at a French restaurant where the culprit is dining and attempts to flambé some lobster only to accidentally set the entire place on fire, and a downright hilarious sequence involving virtual reality. This is the kind of stuff I look for in a Johnny English movie and wanted more of that, but I didn’t quite get it.

            It’s a shame because I think Rowan Atkinson is a comedic genius when it comes to visual gags and slapstick. Similar to Jim Carrey, he has a very rubbery and expressive face and is able to contort it as well as his body in humorous, almost animated ways, even when he’s in a bad movie he manages to add some kinetic energy to the film, couldn’t you have added more here?

            Johnny English Strikes Again is…watchable, it’s not bad enough to induce anger but not good enough to watch again. If you’re a fan of Rowan Atkinson’s humor, the previous Johnny English films, or you just want to take your kids to something silly, you’ll have an inoffensive time, and with a recommendation like that closing the review, this dopey MI7 agent has run his course and desperately needs a retirement.