Film Review:- "Johnny English Strikes Again"

IF you have not seen this very timely film, get to the flicks and take a look at it. The quintessential English actor and comedian, Rowan Atkinson CBE, might be 63, but his films get better all the time. Now Johnny English, Britain's most confident, yet unintelligent spy ever, returns for a 3rd time, in the sequel:- "Johnny English Strikes Again."

This time, the film's plot develops around a PM facing a:- "Broken Britain" and hell bent on looking good to the World's leaders, who are heading to the UK for a G12 Summit. Sadly for her, the UK is under a cyber-attack and worse still, all the active undercover agents within Britain have had their identities revealed in the hack. As the UK fears the worst and is being hijacked, MI7 has only one option, which is to bring out of retirement Johnny English, played by Rowan Atkinson. Now its down to him, to perform with his Mr Bean skills and to save the world, once again. But things are made next to impossible, as the MP, in her quest to look good and fix a broken system, that in her words needs a 'radical reform,' has inadvertently opened the doors of the British Government and Country totally to this emerging threat. Can Johnny rise up and save the day, once again?

History is certainly repeating itself. It's hard to think that this goofy character with a penchant for physical comedy, has been so successful ever since the 1st film back, back in 2003. Yes, the plot and action might be old school, but it works and it might not be the most complex plan to rule the world, that a villain has come up with, yet it is oddly plausible...

Director, Davis Kerr, does a fantastic job of keeping the action moving and it requires very little brain power to enjoy. Saying that writer, William Davies is able to add so many political jokes, we lost count, making it a all time classic on that side, if you like timely political comments.

It's a shame that the St. Trinian's style start did not become a bigger part within the main film, as that would have been a fantastic opportunity to hit out at films like:- Agent Cody Banks and Spy Kids. But this might be the next move for the Johnny English brand, as it shows potential.

As for the main actors, only a few we can really comment on, without spoiling the fun of the film.

Emma Thompson, as Prime Minister, really does do the role well; not 100%, but Theresa May might disagree... Her delivery offers a refreshing and extremely good poke at an establishment. Emma's acting and script reminds us of classic films and TV shows like those of:- 'Whoops Apocalypse' and 'Yes Minister.' With Brexit Britain looming ever closer, that is a very interesting and risky thing to do...

Ben Miller, as Bough, delivers a very good role and balance to Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English. This duo in our view works well on screen. Keeping a down to earth feel about some of the more extreme action jokes, which makes them flow better.

As with most Bond Girls, the character Ophelia, played by Olga Kurylenko, is the hot foreign spy and sadly, thanks to the script, she is somewhat forgettable. It is a shame, as she is an externally talented actress who has a fantastic range of facial expressions, that could have been used far more than they were.

As a bit of a geek thing, look out for the performance of Laura June Hudson, who is a well known costume designer and actress within the British film and TV industry, in the background plot.

The star of the film, as it should be, is Rowan Atkinson. His physical Chaplin-esque comedy, of which he is a master, just makes the film what it is. Add to that the ridiculous physical performance of this character displaces the need for clever dialogues, which most modern comedies rely on. This makes for a refreshing and very British comedy.

For me, the biggest annoyance was that Universal Pictures really needs to sort out it's trailers... When will they ever learn, shoot a few extra bits and put them out and don't use main film footage? Hitchcock was famous for this, shooting a scene that he knew wouldn't be in the movie, only in the trailer, so it's not a new idea.. Plus recently even the kids’ film:- 'Minions' movie is a fantastic example of this, as is:- 'Godzilla.' with footage being far cheaper to make now, it would make more sense to make some spin off scenes that can be used... That way you haven't seen the best bits, until you are actually watching the film... Yes, it comes with risks and requires extra scripting, etc. But for comedy and horror films, this makes far more sense, in our view..

Nonetheless, slogans and health and safety jokes aside, as we extinguish our revelling of all things British, summing up...

This movie is light hearted and extremely good fun; we had a wonderful time watching it 4½ Stars!