JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN – Review

Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English and Ben Miller as Bough in JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN, a Focus Features release.

Let’s get straight to it: If you like Rowan Atkinson’s loopy parody of James Bond, JOHNNY ENGLISH, you’ll have fun with JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN, the third in the comedian’s series. If not, or you don’t care for Rowan Atkinson’s style of physical humor, particularly his “Mr. Bean” character rather than the one in the BBC show “Black Adder,” JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN won’t change your mind. There you have it.

If you are still with me now, there is a lot of fine, typically silly low-comedy fun, of the type in which Atkinson excels, in JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN. This time, Atkinson not only mocks the whole James Bond super spy franchise, but the fact that the James Bond character is so dated at this point. The premise is that a cyber attack has exposed all the names of MI-7’s spies, and now the British government is forced to call back retired agents to catch the villain.

Johnny English, still has confident as ever and just as clumsy, is teaching at a private school (what Brits call a public school) when he gets the call in to interview for the assignment. The ex-spy is supposed to be teaching history but he is really training his enthusiastic charges to be the next super spies. English is actually pretty good as a teacher, and his student’s adore him. But duty calls – or at least the Prime Minister, played by Emma Thompson.

English finds himself competing with a roomful of older spies, all more accomplished than him, played by an array of older male British stars. In his signature bumbling way, English manages to narrow the field down to just him.

Jake Lacy plays a tech billionaire named Volta that the Prime Minister is trying to recruit to help with the cyber attack and to partner with her on other high tech political projects. Meanwhile, traffic lights and other essential systems keep falling to the mysterious cyber attack.

Atkinson’s former spy is rather tech-challenged, so he conveniently decides the best way to catch the culprit is to go old school and analog. That choice allows him to reject the hybrid car offered to him in favor of a classic Aston Martin, giving Atkinson a chance to have a little fun with its gas-guzzling propensity.

Basically, the Johnny English character is really an Inspector Clouseau type, with the addition of the spy’s ever-present and supremely helpful assistant Bough (Ben Miller). But Atkinson whips up a bunch of clever and funny sight gags and routines within those confines. .In English’s absence, Bough has been stuck in a tiny office and consigned to doing paperwork, so he is thrilled to get back out in the field with his old boss.

In keeping with the Bond tradition, there are beautiful locations, fast driving and posh hotels, all of which the film does not skimp on. There are lots of gadgets (to go wrong), the requisite plot twists and betrayals, an evil genius villain and of course a “Bond girl,” played by Olga Kurylenko.

JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN is all light and silly fun for Rowan Atkinson fans, as it pokes affectionate fun at the long-running Bond franchise.. At a brisk 88 minutes, the comedy is just the right length for a popcorn-munching distraction, and it is packed with Atkinson’s signature visual humor. It may be a digital-dependent world, but Rowan Atkinson’s analog-world spy shows the old dog still has some tricks up his well-tailored sleeve.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars