Too much spin on English for comfort
In the opening scene of Johnny English Strikes Again, MI7 is hit with a cyber attack. As every secret agent in their employ is revealed to the world, they are forced to dig into their roster of retirees to find someone to investigate.
Enter Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson), a spy turned geography teacher who is itching to get back on the espionage horse — but the stirrups do not slip on so easily. As Johnny English struggles to adjust to the new world of intelligence gathering, he rejects technological advances for outdated and impractical gadgets. What
JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN
Grade: D+ Theatres, showtimes, pages 30-31
begins as a comedy of generational contrasts, however, quickly dissolves into a dreadful and unfunny portrait of modern life.
Things take a turn when we are introduced to an Elon Musk-like billionaire, Jason (Jake Lacy), who seems to have ready-made solutions to all the government’s cyber-related
issues. Rather than be suspicious, the British prime minister (played by a boozy, fuchsia-clad Emma Thompson) is wowed by his acumen. As the British government gives this dull wonder boy increased access to its servers the movie starts to hit a little too close to home.
Beyond the first 15 minutes (and an all-too-brief dance sequence), the film has no laughs to speak of, making the premise more uncomfortable than comic.
Positioning a billionaire as a villain in a spy movie is old hat. But in this case, the film draws heavily from a pretty bleak real-world scenario without offering any real fantasy. In a world where governments are growing increasingly fragile to the demands of corporations (especially in the tech sector), the treatment of this conflict is more harrowing than hilarious.
Atkinson is, without a doubt, a talented physical comedian. As Johnny English, he puts his Plasticine face and Gumby body to good use, lending a baseline charm to his performance. But there’s nothing on the page or on the screen to support his efforts.
Johnny English Strikes Again seems to have no real reason to exist beyond making one last cash-grab on an already uninspired comedy franchise.