Johnny English

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Kevin McNally, Tasha de Vasconcelos, Ben Miller, Greg Wise
Directed by: Peter Howitt
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A bumbling British spy, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is called upon to save England from a plot threatening to destroy the country.

Review:

Tim: Johnny English is a fairly disappointing action comedy. It's obviously a spoof of James Bond, but we get a bumbling, incompetent spy instead of a suave, confident one. The whole film feels one-note- mostly, "Can you believe how bumbling this spy is?" It felt like all the film's jokes were around this one central gag. There's a few funny moments, but eventually, it gets tiring watching Rowan Atkinson doing stupid things while having the best intentions.

There is a good basic idea in this movie- it's somewhat fun to see a bumbling fool eventually make good and save the day. The problem is that without more support, this idea falls apart in a feature film (even one as short as this 88 minute one). This idea gets old rather quickly, and there's simply not enough in this film to support it.

The movie is also pretty ridiculous. There are a number of plot holes throughout the film and some series gaps in logic. The basic premise of the villain's plan (I suppose this would be a spoiler) is to take the powers of the throne of England and turn the country into a prison. I can't even begin to describe how ridiculous this is, even for a comedy. First off, the abilities of the Queen are not that powerful. No country in the world would just roll over and let their land become a prison. It's just such an absurd notion, it ruined the movie for me. I'm sure it was done as a spoof on some of the more outlandish villainous plots in older Bond movies, but I just didn't think it worked here.

Rowan Atkinson really doesn't make a great leading man. He certainly has a few strong moments and his willingness to go all-in for comedy is impressive. I've never found him particularly funny, however, and he didn't do much to change my mind here. He was lackluster in the part. I have no idea why John Malkovich agreed to do this film. He's such a talented actor, but he makes some really poor career choices. His part is ridiculous and he brings nothing special to it. His presence here is completely wasted. Natalie Imbruglia was surprisingly better than I expected, although she wasn't exactly great. The rest of the supporting cast was only decent.

The film did put together a few funny scenes. The pen dart scene was one of the highlights. Others could have been funny, but were so obvious that it diminished the potential for humor. For example, the sewer pipe was a good set up, but the ladder was so obvious that payoff was muted. A few funny moments do occur, but they're too few and far between. It just felt like the whole effort here was uninspired.

Johnny English was a pretty disappointing parody, but there's definitely worse films out there. It wasn't a miserable experience, but it wasn't exactly a rousing, entertaining one, either. I wish the movie had been better, but I'm not sure how high the ceiling on this one was to begin with.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



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