Johnny English Strikes Again Review

Following a devastating cyber attack it's necessary to once again bring Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) back into the field. Things are grim as these cyber problems continue to escalate and only one agent can provide the wacky adventures to get the job done. The lack of knowledge in regards to technology is astounding here, but if you look past that as it being a joke on the modern times it can be a fine time. The narrative is fairly straight forward without any twists or mystery, but it really is another entry in this franchise.

I say that as it feels tonally similar and once again Atkinson delivers the laughs. I had a fun time and that's what I'd describe this film as. It has some good laughs with the physical and expression based humor that this character is so known for. It was great how they were able to mock the whole getting too old for the job setup that's so present in modern action movies and they just had fun with it. There were some weaker parts such as the villain and the realism, but still a fine time for sure.

It was alright to view with some lovely vista shots, and they really presented all of the action scenes well. There was a whole dance segment that was particularly well done. While a lot of it was just silly, I had some good laughs throughout. Everyone was dedicated in the presentation and it felt like the characters were completely into it. Atkinson particularly shines here again as the titular lead, as does his close assistant.

I thought the villain was rather horrible and poorly setup, but that really wasn't much of the focus at all. The female lead also didn't do much in the latter half of the movie despite being so present throughout. The plot is sort of completely random and it's best to just experience the action. There are jokes on all sorts of modern technology and while almost none of it was correct, it did deliver on some laughs.

The Conclusion

Johnny English Strikes Again is an alright spoof of the modern spy film with good physical humor and some laughs. The writers either didn't understand technology at all, or wanted to go out of the way to provide a mockery of it. I just sort of went with it, while still being rather annoyed by that aspect. I loved the comparison of old special spy gear to the modern digital age at some points whereas other times it was too silly.

This very much feels like a logical next step for the franchise and while it's definitely a standalone it does wrap things up well. I'm not sure if we'll see anymore as there's not much to do past the whole coming out of retirement years later situation and that's alright as this is a decent send-off. It may not have all come together in a perfect way, but the character of Johnny English is still highly entertaining due to its strong lead.

Johnny English Strikes Again Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by NBC Universal

Rating Overall: 5.0