Film Reviews

Johnny English Reborn

• Rating:
• Director: Oliver Parker
• Starring: Dominic West
• Details: UK / 101 mins (PG)

I've never been stuck in a lift with a mentally unhinged person on magic mushrooms for 90 odd minutes, but I'd imagine it wouldn't be too dissimilar to viewing this inane sequel - if far less entertaining in retrospect. Rowan Atkinson has two shticks nowadays - bumbling buffoon who doesn't speak (Mr. Bean) and bumbling buffoon who does (Johnny English). If you find a set of keys being jingled in your face thoroughly engaging, then you might laugh at this.
Atkinson returns as the titular MI7 Agent, Johnny English; going into hiding after a mission is botched (because of his stupidity), he is called back when Queen and country once again require his services. A hackneyed plot involving special keys, defecting Russians and McNulty from The Wire follows - all of it about as funny as a three-legged puppy being hit by a bus.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to point out that I have never seen the first Johnny English film - thankfully common sense wouldn't allow that to happen when I was but a regular punter. That said, I really don't think plot points carried forward from that film are of any relevance here. The main character is a farcical idiot, who gets himself into whacky shenanigans that he inexplicably gets out of in a comical fashion; what am I missing?
Atkinson was hilarious in Blackadder. A great show, his sardonic putdowns of Baldrick still manage to pillage laughs to this day. But he's slumming it here, and the lazy comedy on show is produced under the guise of "family comedy" - if Pixar can do it and make it funny to anyone out of nappies, then so can anyone.
Dominic West and Gillian Anderson pop up and take things seriously for a bit, then go away. Which is what I wanted to do after five minutes. Awful.

Review by Mike Sheridan