It is hard to believe that this is already the third film in the "Johnny English" franchise. The first one came in 2003, and the first sequel "Johnny English Reborn" came in 2011. I think I may have seen them both, and probably enjoyed the antics of Rowan Atkinson in the title role, but I do not recall much detail about them anymore. Seven years later which is this year, the third episode is released for another hilarious send-up of British spy movies.
The computer system of M7 had been hacked and the identities of all current British spies had been exposed. The British Prime Minister directed M7 to locate and contact older inactive spies to work on the case. That was how Johnny English, who had been working as a geography teacher since his retirement from M7, back into action as an agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service.
English and his trusty aide Bough were investigating a lead in the south of France about the ultra-modern yacht Dot Clam, encountering the exotic Ophelia along the way. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was planning to tie up with American IT tycoon Jason Volta to solve the series of serious major transport system hacking attacks the UK had been experiencing lately, and will announce the partnership during the G12 meeting in Scotland.
This was another showcase of James Bond spy parodies, as Johnny English was meant to do. Most of the gags were old-fashioned slapstick gags, as Rowan Atkinson was best known for. However, it was too bad that a lot of its best jokes had already been spoiled by being shown in the trailer, such as the bit about inflatable raft in the car, the cocktail umbrella up his nose, or the backward dive onto the lower deck. They were still funny to watch, but the impact had been diminished by repeated viewings.
Mercifully, there were still a number of silly gags for us to enjoy for the first time. Some of these situations were so embarrassing, I could not look straight at the screen. There was so much more to that virtual reality sequence than what was seen in the trailer. There was that entire cringe-fest at the fancy restaurant where Johnny English and Bough dressed up like waiters to try to swipe the phone of a suspect. There was that entire final act in the Scotland conference where Johnny English was trapped in a suit of armor.
Ben Miller played English's long-suffering but ever-loyal sidekick Bough, a character who was in the first film, but sidelined in the second. I enjoyed their crazy interactions with each other so much here, I'd like to re-watch the first film again. Emma Thompson was all wide-eyed over-the-top in playing the super-stressed out British Prime Minister. She got even more harassed when she got wind of English's shenanigans, realizing he was all they got.
Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko had no problem playing Ophelia, a parody of her own femme fatale character in "Quantum of Solace" (2008), the Bond film that launched her Hollywood career. She had silly scenes of her own as she was trying to keep up with the uber-hyperactive Atkinson and his manic moves on the dance floor.
Jake Lacy played Jason Volta, the magnetic billionaire tech magnate. All those fancy gadgets with the super-efficient artificial intelligence were fascinating to watch at work, with just his mere spoken orders. At the same time, it showed the imminent danger of the whole Internet being held hostage by a greedy megalomaniac.
Of course, Rowan Atkinson showed us that he still got what it takes to make audiences laugh, and by no means did he mellow down now that he is already in his 60s. His style may be tired and corny for some, but hey, that distinctive face alone with all its weird contortions could already make me laugh. He had absolutely no shame in doing the most shameful scenes. The more ridiculous, the better. The more mortifying, the better! Classic old school British comedy still can rock it. 7/10.
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