Johnny English Strikes Again

Johnny English for the third time, for better or worse! The third film about the supremely inept agent is qualitatively comparable to its predecessors in terms of action, humour and cast. There are places where they were running on fumes and relying on the already seen, but the dance of the speeding English, the lines of the Prime Minister played by Emma Thompson or, the mini-scene with the old spies Michael Gambon, Charles Dance and Edward Fox were great. I also liked the return of the old friend Bough. Last but not least, I praise the way they repeatedly made fun of the contrast between high technology (the modern generation) and traditional practices (the old guard). (02/12/2018)

In the weakest instalment of the franchise, Johnny English is a secret agent of the analogue old school who is suddenly confronted with modern digital technologies such as smartphones and virtual reality. Nevertheless, his bitter conflicts with modern conveniences are only sporadically present in the film, so most of the humor, which draws significantly from the previous two instalments, is again conveyed by means of classic “Bean comedy”, in addition to parodic plays on the spy movie genre. However, the hackneyed scenes with physical gags that are long past their sell-by date (the protagonist’s nose gets caught in a cocktail umbrella; he gets scared by the fire while flambéing shrimps and spills them on the floor...) come across as very stale and predictable. The totally routine and listless directing definitely doesn’t help with its insufficient feel for comic timing. Besides that, the filmmakers appear to be conservative technophobes who present new technologies as instruments of evil that are not understood at all by most of the film’s characters, including the protagonist, whose inability to adapt to anything modern is extolled as a virtue – in the climax, he is even dressed in medieval armor in order to further emphasize that he is a hero of the good old days. He is a hero who is generally considered to be an incompetent fool that always ruins everything and always achieves success only by accident thanks to the random aligning of circumstances, yet he is praised by the prime minister in the final scenes as a representative of proper British values and qualities. Though Rowan Atkinson is usually able to put things right with his facial expressions, this time making funny faces was unfortunately not enough to salvage such a lazy and half-baked comedy with no imagination and with weak, unimaginative and trite humor. (26/04/2022)

There are far fewer scenes that make you laugh compared to the previous two films, leaving you a terrible script with a horribly stale plot and a denouement that is impossible to take seriously. I wouldn't have minded if it had at least worked as a comedy. It's just that good old Mr. Bean is gone and the humor here is anything but natural. Never again. Please, never again. Boring, 2 stars. (13/12/2018)

Rowan Atkinson's third time as the clumsy agent and, to be honest, it's not great. Johnny English Strikes Again has a couple of very good scenes, but on the whole it's a rather trite piece of entertainment that runs out of breath towards the end. When Atkinson is in Mr. Bean mode, though, it's great. (26/10/2018)

David Kerr's debut as a director resulted in an intriguing film. A parody of spy movies like this is quite rare, and I’d even go so far as to say the third installment is the best of the series. Rowan Atkinson may not be as young as he once was, and it shows in a few moments, but his enthusiasm and passion for his roles remain as strong as when he began with Mr. Bean in the '80s. He’s clearly still enjoying himself, which I think is crucial. The plot is straightforward, almost childishly simple, but I found the typical humor amusing. Some scenes had me laughing so hard I nearly had tears in my eyes (the virtual reality scene was brilliantly conceived—sheer genius). Overall, the film provided unusually high-quality entertainment, with no overtly cringe-worthy jokes. Of course, you shouldn't overthink it (like how a nuclear submarine ends up in a lake, right? :D...). If you let go of all the logical analysis and just enjoy the flow of jokes, you’re in for a fantastic afternoon. If a fourth installment continues in the same vein, I’m definitely on board. I give it 78%. P.S. I think I might have fallen in love with the red Aston Martin V8 Vantage Classic. (01/02/2019)