Johnny English Strikes Again

Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) returns for the third instalment of this farcical franchise, where a cyber-attack leaks the identities of all the British agents in the field! While the whole of the Secret Service is in chaos, Johnny (now retired), is the only one who can help… Reunited with his previous partner, Bough (Ben Miller – Paddington 2), to find the hacker behind this, Johnny is out-of-touch, out-of-date, and possibly out of his mind. It’s not long before he’s creating his own special brand of chaos: causing bedlam in the streets; a restaurant to burn down; and a missile to be fired at an innocent group of cyclists, and that’s just for starters...

Though Johnny English’s talents may be a little rusty, the same cannot be said for Rowan Atkinson, who as always, is right on target. His Johnny English never quite keeps his cool in the face of all his foiled attempts at slick espionage, witty badinage, and has just enough awareness of his shortcomings to make his embarrassment hysterical. The cameo from Emma Thompson (Harry Potter) as the Prime Minister, is simply icing on the cake.

Natalie Tyldesley-Marshall

This classic spy spoof-comedy strikes for the third time as Johhny English is called back to service from his teaching job at a spy school, after an unfortunate leak of classified information on all British intelligence staff creates utter chaos across Britain. His mission? To seek out the mastermind hacker who has plunged the U.K. into disarray. His adventures take him to the South of France where he comes face-to-face with attractive and enigmatic spy (Olga Kurylenko), and his farcical Mr. Bean-style attempts at flirting with her remind us of Rowan Atkinson’s sheer brilliance. Emma Thompson delivers a touch of extra British wit as the sassy Prime Minister, and her character pokes fun at British politics and the weakness of its intelligence agencies in the face of powerful cyber-attacks, and themes such as the rapid development of new technology are tackled. The comical moments of the movie are aplenty; the most comedic scene comes in the form of a virtual reality failure – English is introduced to the wonders of virtual reality but fails to master his bearings when he stumbles onto a busy London road whilst still wearing the virtual glasses – and succeeds in injuring scores of citizens in the meantime, with his infamous lack of grace. The absurdities within Johnny English Strikes Again reflect the gaffes we all know and love much too well; despite it’s ridiculous predictability, Atkinson’s distinctive slapstick comedy never fails to entertain.

Naz Ozkan