'Johnny English Strikes Again' review

Hilariously entertaining family comedy, which fails to bring the drama and gives the series it's first wrong footing

Rowan Atkinson in 'Johnny English Strikes Again' (UniversalPicturesUK)

by Jack Linsdell

Rowan Atkinson can only be defined as a British comedic master. His unique craft of physical comedy (now a rare talent in an era dominated by stand-up) has continuously bestowed the world with iconic characters, leading to many hugely successful and timeless TV and film series including Blackadder, Mr. Bean and, of course, Johnny English.

The character of Johnny English was born out of Atkinson's BAFTA-winning performance during the 1990's Barclaycard advert campaign and he's developed into the bumbling and deeply patriotic British spy audiences adore today. Peter Howitt's 'Johnny English' introduced the character to a cinematic audience in 2003, in a film parodying the fantastical plots and gadget-laden elements of the James Bond franchise and featuring a superb performance by John Malkovich as the villain, Savage. It took seven years for Oliver Parker's much more adult and realistic sequel 'Johnny English Reborn' to be released (heavily influenced by Greengrass's grittier Bourne films), but successfully managed to combine the slapstick comedy of the original into a thriller-esque narrative. And now, in 2018 (another seven years on), Atkinson reprises his role for David Kerr's 'Johnny English Strikes Again'.

The film begins with MI7's databases being hacked, compromising all their active field agents, and subsequent attacks giving the hackers control of London's transport and traffic light systems. English, now (supposedly!) teaching his students Geography at a Lincolnshire school, is called out of retirement to find the hacker(s) and return the country to peace. Under pressure from the Prime Minister (played by Emma Thompson), English travels to the South of France with returning companion and loyal subordinate Bough (Ben Miller), encountering the mysterious Ophelia (Bond girl Olga Kurylenko). If the plot sounds familiar then you're correct. The inciting incident of a data hack is stolen straight from Daniel Craig's 'Skyfall', whilst the films analogue vs digital theme and a Silicon valley tech-tycoon as the villain, remind us of 2016's 'Jason Bourne'. However, these films are deliberate spoofs of the genre, and aren't aiming for originality points, so we can't criticise too much.

I consider myself a big fan of the first two Johnny English instalments, appreciating them for being both side-splittingly funny as childish comedy dramas and working well as coherent, at times emotionally-weighted narratives, filled with action spectacle and well-crafted characters. No, I'm not saying these films deserve credit for outstanding artistic achievement but they went above and beyond the standard expected for these PG-rated comedy's. My problem with 'Strikes Again' is that it fails to meet the high standard set by the previous films, becoming a string of well-acted and well-written sequences showcasing Atkinson's ability. Therefore, these act as padding to a narrative lacking any sophistication, depth or emotional character arcs - if you're watching this for the story, you'll be disappointed.

The elements to a being a fantastic film, on par with the others, are, frustratingly, all there. Screenwriter William Davies (who co-wrote the last two with other writers) has a solo effort here, and based on behind the scenes footage of scenes that were not included in the final cut, I'm sure his screenplay contained the coherence and emotional weight that fans come to expect from these films. However, in the hands of David Kerr - making his film directorial debut - I wonder if the film has been put together in the wrong way. The final version has been so rapidly cut that we go from scene to scene feeling like we're missing key moments of characterisation and plot development. The first two instalments had a scene of comedy, followed by plot, then comedy. Here, we go from one comedy set-piece to another, reducing the film to being 'just' a comedy (almost documenting the life of Johnny English in a week without any plot to link it all together).

Now, whilst this makes the film one-dimensional and missing the bar established by its predecessors, it does meet the (much lower) standard expected from family comedies. Indeed, it is deeply entertaining from a comedic perspective, with some outstanding scenes that had me continuously laughing throughout. Highlights include a thrilling car chase in which English is struggling to maintain the manual controls of his vintage sports car whilst Ophelia eases around bends in her electric car, and the scene ends with the two having a conversation in which English forgets his own cover name, whilst acting in his usual arrogant manor to impress her. Other scenes including the virtual reality and dancing sequences are also joys to watch - Atkinson's performance is spot on as ever and the film's unique comedy style sets it out from the crowd.

The humour is less adult-friendly here though. Unlike the sexual references, implied innuendos and bad language in the first two films, the humour here is completely child-like, simple and more reminiscent of Mr. Bean. Maybe, this is an attempt to reach a younger audience and for that it certainly makes it more family orientated, however it didn't hit the mark as frequently as the series had before with me (in my screening, kids were always laughing, adults only occasionally).

Performance wise, Emma Thompson is unusually cold and seemingly uncomfortable acting in her scenes. I think this comes down to the material she was given, which is a shame considering her talent, but considering the PM character has always been a small part in these films anyway, I have to wonder if casting an A-lister as a minor character was really that smart of a move. Ben Miller is also sadly underused, his partnership not being explored as well as it could have been, although there are glimpses to their relationship from the first film. An example includes an outstanding scene during the second act (if there is one!) when Bough tries to explain to English how he's got married and reflects on whether that appeals to Johnny too, but the conversation is immediately dismissed drawing on the selfish nature of our hero who we've come to love and loath together.

Unfortunately, Kerr's direction isn't up to scratch either. The film lacks any true artistic direction - framing, shots and conventional editing make it uninspiring, whilst a heavy use of CGI noticeable promotes the budget of the film. Although this style would work well for a TV comedy (where Kerr has made his name), it doesn't lend well to a feature film. After Oliver Parker's excellent work on 'Johnny English Reborn' (watch the opening scene again when the unidentified officials are looking at English's file - with sir crossed off in red pen - in a darkened room), this film falls flat. Most of the gags are so in-your-face that they loose any element of surprise and this is because they are all foregrounded. Occasionally, Kerr handles the comedy with subtlety and precision, like when English misses his mouth with a nut and a waitress slips over it in the background (the shot is wide and stays on Atkinson, whilst chaos happens behind him) but unfortunately it's few and far between.

Considering the length of time between sequels, my expectations for this film were quite high and I had presumed that this would be the conclusion to the series given Atkinson's age. However, I seriously hope it isn't because the ending is so abrupt, open and cold that there is no closure to his character or the story, despite hints of romance with Ophelia, as an example of a plot strand not concluded at the climax. And if so, Universal/Comcast Corp. and all involved in the production, have potentially sacrificed the quality of 'Strikes Again' in the hope that a fourth film might be financially viable. However, when looking at 'The Bourne Legacy', 'The 5th Wave' and 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back', it's all too clear that films that are left open to sequels, end up having no next instalment.

Overall, 'Johnny English Strikes Again' is deeply entertaining as a Rowan Atkinson starring vehicle, delivering the goods of physical comedy and providing plenty of laughable moments for children and adults. For this reason, many will enjoy it for its simple nature. However, as an instalment to a series that hadn't put a foot wrong and had been so much more sophisticated than just a string of Mr. Bean-like comedy scenes put together, the film is a missed opportunity to tell another compelling chapter of a character we all love, but in contemporary times. To quote English in this film, "simple is my middle name". Perhaps, in this case, they should have stuck to the surname only.

3/5 STARS

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