Johnny English - Movie Review
2"Johnny English" (2003) directed by Peter Howitt is pure dumb fun. However it's a parody of James Bond which is a great series and I'm not a huge fan of parodies in general, not to mention there is in my opinion a superior Bond parody already in Austin Powers.
Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is the world's most incompetent man alive. He works for the British secret service, and his incompetence causes the death of literally every single agent. With no other candidates, Johnny is made the new "Agent One." Johnny is tasked with stopping a crazed Frenchman named Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) who needs to be crowned King of England so he can turn the entire country into a massive prison.
Johnny English is a painful movie to watch but it's undeniably endearing and entertaining. The pure cringe and incompetence of Johnny is second to none, offering some great comedy moments throughout. Rowan Atkinson is a very talented comedian and he delivers his lines perfectly. John Malkovich turns a rather generic villain into something somewhat memorable, also he has an amazing French accent for a non-native. Natalie Imbruglia is our weak link of the three stars but I can still commend her ability to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing in her scenes with Rowan, oh and she also made a great song called "Torn" which I recommend you give a listen, but that is unrelated.
Johnny's partner really frustrated me as while this is a parody film, it's still grounded in reality and the characters besides Johnny are supposed to be competent regular functioning human beings. Johnny's partner Bough (Ben Miller) could have been made Agent One, not to mention how stupid that entire beginning premise is, I find it highly unlikely that every single British secret agent was at that one particular funeral. Now this really is not a movie that I should be poking at plot holes / logic flaws, but I can't help it because it's just so dumb sometimes. Johnny as a character is actually not a dumb loveable idiot, he's actually quite annoying and arrogant, making it difficult to root for him or care about his fate.
Johnny English is a decent enough comedy but in my opinion is very skippable and not necessary to see. You would be better off watching almost any James Bond or Austin Powers movie over this one, but Rowan Atkinson does save the day and boosts my final rating of the movie.
Video by Rainy Nights.
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