(Image: Universal Pictures) While he may not enjoy the longevity of James Bond, Johnny English has enjoyed a surprising amount of success for a character that started life in a credit card commercial. Two films and over £240 million ($320 million) later, Rowan Atkinson completes this unlikely trilogy with Johnny English Strikes Again. Seven years on from the last film, Johnny English (Atkinson) is now retired from MI7 and working as a teacher with some very strange curriculum ideas. He is called back into action, however, when the identity of every active spy in the world is leaked by a mysterious hacker. Relying on his very analogue methods and long-suffering sidekick Bough (Ben Miller), English causes chaos across Europe in an attempt to save the world. The rule of comedies mean this routine should be getting tired by now – comedy threequels rarely work out for the best (see Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Hangover Part 3, or Little Fockers). However, given the space of time and innocent nature of the comedy, this third secret agent spoof can be a lot of fun. Atkinson isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, instead he leans on what he knows works. This leads to some very funny moments, including a disastrous scene where he poses as a waiter, and a drug induced dance marathon. The plot itself is ludicrous, and talks about the internet like a confused grandmother trying to send an email, but if you’re looking for Mr Bean-like laughs you’ve come to the right place. Rowan Atkinson still knows how to get laughs (Image: Universal Pictures) Assisting Johnny English in his mission is former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, who keeps up with Atkinson in the comedy stakes and gamely sends up her sultry persona. The previous films had some surprisingly prestige actors in the cast – the first film had John Malkovich, the second Rosamund Pike and Dominic West. This tradition continues with the brilliant Emma Thompson as the Prime Minister, a role she fits perfectly as she balances the countries interest with concern over her own public image. If this is successful enough to warrant another instalment, that’s one character worth revisiting. One downside in the cast is Jake Lacy as the villain, a sort of Elon Musk/Mark Zuckerberg hybrid who tries to be funny and menacing, and comes of as neither. After a summer of superhero deaths and rampaging dinosaurs, Johnny English Strikes Again is a fun palate cleanser for movie fans before the dramatic Oscar contenders arrive. A fourth film maybe pushing Atkinson’s charm a little bit far, but anyone who can stretch a Bond spoof into an entertaining trilogy has to be commended. MORE : Rowan Atkinson is back to his old tricks as Johnny English Strikes Again with Emma Thompson as PM<doc-sep>Johnny English Strikes Again Director - David Kerr Cast - Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Olga Kurylenko, Jake Lacy, Emma Thompson Rating - 2/5 The kindest thing that can be said about Johnny English Strikes Again is that it clocks in at 89 minutes - 80, if you scarper before the end credits. To put things in perspective, in 80 minutes you could buy yourself a mind-altering virtual reality experience, and still have enough time left for a quick snack. You could finally go on that scuba lesson you’ve always wanted, and you could, depending on your mood, buy overpriced tickets to France and spend the next 75 minutes second-guessing your impulsive decision. Each of these things happen in Johnny English Strikes Again and - objectively speaking - are better alternatives to actually watching the damn movie. Watch the Johnny English Strikes Again trailer: Its scattershot plot involves Rowan Atkinson and Johnny English being yanked out of retirement to bring their decidedly anachronistic skills in combating a ‘high-tech villain’. The cartoonish bad guy - played by the unlikeliest of movie villains, Rampage’s Jake Lacy - has acquired a full list of the British intelligence’s undercover spies, leaving the MI7 with no option but to turn to the retirees. It’s a premise that we’ve seen play out on numerous occasions - from the first Mission: Impossible film to Skyfall - but besides inserting Emma Thompson into the mix, Johnny English Strikes Again does little new with it. It’s a film that is bound together more by a series of unrelated slapstick gags than a story, even by this franchise’s unremarkable standards. Olga Kurylenko played a Bond girl opposite Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace. Johnny English enlists his trusted sidekick, Bough, to tag along, and to provide a rational foil to his incessant ineptitude - which, like most incessant things, becomes tiresome after a while. Along the way, he bumps into a mysterious woman, played by former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko (ha-ha) and stumbles through a ridiculous plot that involves launching a short- range missile into French cyclists (xenophobia), running out of petrol during a car chase (hubris), and setting a restaurant on fire (stupidity). This puts us in an uncomfortable position - watching Atkinson in what is clearly his element can be enjoyable, but the film is so mind-numbingly unambitious that you can’t imagine it being seen anywhere other than on a plane, where scenes can be skipped, or on YouTube, where someone has already sifted out the best bits for your convenience. To be sure, there is no performer in the world who has mastered the sardonic eye-roll quite like Rowan Atkinson. The trick, you see, is to involve the entire face. While the pièce de résistance is still the glorious rolling of the eyes - careful and luxurious - pay closer attention and you’d notice that Atkinson also works his mouth; his lips curl into that famous downward frown, and the creases on his forehead become more prominent. It isn’t merely an eye-roll, its a formidable bit of physical acting. Johnny English prefers the good ol’ British horsepower of Aston Martin over cars that sound like a ‘nose-hair trimmer’. His command over this one signature move has competition only in Tom Cruise’s complete and utter mastery of the act of waking up with a start. Yes, you thought I was going to bring up Cruise’s (admittedly) iconic karate chop run, didn’t you? But observe, for a moment, how Cruise has brought the act of jolting awake down to a science, and you’d realise that the running is merely a diversion. He did it multiple times in Edge of Tomorrow (or are they calling it Live Die Repeat now?) and it’s how Ethan Hunt was introduced in Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Cruise, like Atkinson with his over-intellectualised eye-roll, isn’t satisfied with simply waking up, no; notice how he brings his arms up to his face, in a defensive posture, as if he’s under constant threat of being physically attacked. Notice the almost inaudible breath he releases. It’s a work of art. But when a split-second acting tick makes for a more fulfilling discussion than the movie in which it happens, something is seriously wrong. I could talk for days about Rowan Atkinson’s phenomenal talents as a physical comedian - he is the UK’s answer to France’s Jacques Tati and America’s Pee Wee Herman - but his films have rarely lived up to his abilities. In his spare time, Johnny English is on the lookout for future intelligence agents. The Johnny English series began as a well-intentioned spoof - interestingly, co-created by veteran James Bond writers Neil Purvis and Robert Wade - but almost two decades later, it has become as embarrassing as listening to your elderly uncle repeatedly tell that one joke that got a good laugh at some party two decades ago. You wait for him to finish, chuckle politely, and go back to whatever it was that you were doing before he slid in. Atkinson revives the series every seven-to-eight years, depending on the prevalent cinematic climate - in 2003, Pierce Brosnan’s run as James Bond had only recently ended, plummeting the iconic franchise to its lowest point in years; in 2011, Daniel Craig’s shoegazing turn as 007 had left room for humour; and in 2018, the Kingsman series has proven the box office worth of spy spoofs. It’s unfortunate, then, that the Johnny English films remain as stubbornly buffoonish as the character. They have none of the subversion of the Kingsman series, none of the pastiche of the Austin Powers and the French OSS 117 movies, and shockingly, none of the humour of Steve Carell’s Get Smart. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar ott:10<doc-sep>Rowan Atkinson stars in 'Johnny English Strikes Again' FREE now and never miss the top Royal stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top Royal stories again. When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. The third movie in the Rowan Atkinson-fronted series is due out this weekend but has received lukewarm responses in its reviews. The Guardian called the film “underpowered” in a two-star verdict, saying it’s “pretty moderate stuff. “And as with the other Johnny English films I couldn’t help thinking: can’t the British film industry give Rowan Atkinson a role that really does justice to his talent? The Telegraph also claimed Atkinson is above the franchise in their own two-star review. The UK newspaper said the film is “an imbecilic waste of one of our greatest clowns”. The Hollywood Reporter said the movie “feels more like a threadbare cash-in than the latest instalment of a blockbuster franchise. “A couple of sustained slapstick set-piece sequences, at a glitzy French restaurant and inside a Virtual Reality simulation, could conceivably raise a few laughs among the younger children who appear to be the film's main target audiences. “But the rest of us will simply have our time wasted by a cheap-looking romp that remains obstinately low on comic inspiration from start to finish.” Johnny English Strikes Again is out this week Emma Thompson also stars Den of Geek UK wrote: “While Johnny English Strikes Again is a blur of far-fetched plot and car chases, it does still have that wonderfully British slapstick humour that keeps the laughs coming.” Variety said: “More than even before, this series has a leftover-goods, what-is-this-movie-doing-here? quality. “Yet if you’re a fan of Atkinson’s twinkly egomaniacal absurdism, or just want to revel in that face of his, with its naturally italicized jet-black eyebrows and its mouth twisted into a grimace of befuddlement, there are a minor handful of scenes in Johnny English Strikes Again that will make you laugh. A bit.” Screen Daily weren’t keen, saying: “Lazily shaken and not even messily stirring, there’s a repeating formula here. It's been 15 years since the first movie Atkinson has been praised - but the movie hasn't<doc-sep>
Rowan Atkinson stars in 'Johnny English Strikes Again' Rowan Atkinson may be one of the most recognisable faces in British comedy. From Mr Bean to Black Adder, the actor is famed for his portrayals of a variety of comedic roles. He has even turned his hand to drama in the ITV Maigret series and has also performed on the west end. In his latest outing as the spy Johnny English, Atkinson has once again returned to thwart crime in his own bumbling way. What do critics say about Johnny English Strikes Again? Despite Atkinson's inimitable talent as a comedic actor, the Johnny English sequel gets decidedly poor reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Consensus reads: "Johnny English Strikes Again might get a few giggles out of viewers pining for buffoonish pratfalls, but for the most part, this sequel simply strikes out." Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Delivers little besides laboured jokes, a moronic plot and characters so thinly drawn they make Mister Bean look like the work of prime-time Ingmar Bergman." Likewise, the Ed Potton of The Times said: "Too much of the comedy, however, is based on the tired notion of updating the spy game for the 21st century... "This has been done before, and better, by others, including James Bond himself," he added. One of the few positive voices was Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent, giving it 3/5 stars. Macnab wrote: "Fans of Atkinson and of the Johnny English franchise should be happy enough with the new adventure but even they may wonder if the filmmakers could have done just a little more to bring Johnny English into the modern age." Variety writer Owen Gleiberman wrote: "There are a minor handful of scenes in Johnny English Strikes Again that will make you laugh. A bit." Johnny English Strikes Again: Rowan Atkinson stars in the lukewarm spy spoof Caitlin Quinlan of Little White Lies wrote: "Vapid characters and very few laughs." On the LWL tripartite of scores, it received 2 for anticipation, 2 for enjoyment, and 1 star in retrospect. Jamie East wrote "Aside from a couple of set-pieces in which Atkinson is allowed to be Mr Bean in a tux, this is misjudged and simply not funny enough," for The Sun. For the Metro, Larushka Ivan-Zadeh wrote: "Kids may still giggle at Atkinson's well-practised buffoonery but his creaky character might want to consider permanent retirement after this one." Johnny English Strikes Again: Rowan Atkinson may delight children but adults were bored Hedging his bets somewhere in the middle is Common Sense Media writer Nell Minnow. Minnow writes: "The spy parts aren't exciting enough and the funny parts aren't funny enough, but the overall effect is mildly amusing" Caroline Westbrook of Empire was kinder than most. Her review reads: "Okay, so it's not exactly highbrow. But who cares? "This is crowd-pleasing stuff which plays like a British answer to The Naked Gun." Johnny English Strikes Again: Rowan Atkinson plays the luddite spy in the sequel The sequel starts when a cyber attack reveals the identities of all active undercover agents in Britain. This leaves bumbling, inept, luddite Johnny English as the secret service's last hope. With his inability to use technology and his lack of a smart-phone, he is the only spy who cannot be hacked. Thus, he is called out of retirement and dives headfirst into action with the mission to find the mastermind hacker. Johnny English Strikes Again: Emma Thompson plays the prime minister