JOHNNY ENGLISH

REVIEWED BY BRAD ENGLISH

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: brief nudity, innuendo

Rated:

In my experience, there are two opinions on British humor (or maybe it should be humour): people think it is either the pinnacle of comic genius or they think it is as stupid as cutting down a tree with a herring.  Just mention the name “Monty Python” and see what kind of reaction you get.  Thankfully, Rowan Atkinson’s new spy spoof Johnny English is here to help bridge the gap between the two.

For those that haven’t seen the trailers, Atkinson is Johnny English, a pencil pusher at MI5 British Intelligence with aspirations to be a top super-spy like the suave “Number One.” Through his own ineptness, English causes the death of “Number One” and every single spy in MI5 leaving him as Britain’s only agent on active duty. It now falls to English to investigate a plot against the Crown Jewels leading him to French businessman/megalomaniac Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich sporting an over-the-top French accent). Assisting English through his mission is his sidekick Bough (Ben Miller) and Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia in her feature film debut). Along with all of this, English is equipped with all kinds of spy gadgets/weapons complete with a fully loaded Aston Martin sports car. Hilarity ensues.

Americans might recognize Atkinson as Mr. Bean (from – you guessed it – the Mr. Bean TV show and subsequent movie) or the voice of Zazu from The Lion King. It’s great to see him in a role where we can watch him and hear him at the same time! Atkinson excels at physical comedy and he gets a chance to shine as the British agent. Though most of the gags in the movie are predictable and we can see what is going to happen a mile away, the fun comes in watching Atkinson react to everything.

Nicely enough, there are a few laughs that caught me by surprise. The supporting cast is amusing for the most part.  Bough is the faithful, quick-thinking sidekick who either cannot see how accident-prone his boss is or just does doesn’t care.  There is almost a Don Quixote/Sancho Panza relationship between English and Bough.  The part of Lorna really isn’t all that important to the plot and the movie would have been fine without her, but in any spy spoof like this one you have to have the obligatory love interest.  Malkovich as Sauvage is a mediocre villain.  Sure, his plans for world dominations are creative, but gosh that accents wears thin quickly. 

The movie is officially rated PG for comic nudity, some crude humor and language.  There’s a shot of a man’s bare bottom (played for laughs). The language wasn’t as bad as many “PG” movies  – a couple of mild words common on TV. There is no sex, although there is a little suggestive dialogue. But unfortunately there is some toilet (literally) humor thrown in unnecessarily to get laughs from the kids; thank goodness they call it “poop” instead of the more vulgar alternative. The few shootouts are done “A-Team” style: lots of gunfire but no one actually gets shot. Really it’s a wonderful break from the innuendo-packed Austin Powers series. Overall, it’s a fun movie and there are worse ways to spend seven bucks and an hour and a half. If you want a break from the big-budget summer sequels and special effects films, this is for you. Go in expecting a silly comedy and you won’t be disappointed.

Random Spy Movie Trivia: In the movie the band that plays at Sauvage’s party is called Bond. The writers of Johnny English also wrote the two most recent Bond films, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Also, Rowan Atkinson had a part in the Bond movie Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery.