Film of the Week: Johnny English Strikes Again

Johnny English is the king of Spy movie spoofs. The first movie was an original parody of everything that made the classic spy movie great, by emphasising what could go wrong and actually making them go wrong, by implementing silly technologies and gismos, and the biggest parody of them all – making sure the hero completes his mission with luck alone. Johnny English doesn’t complete his missions because he’s extraordinarily brilliant, he completes his missions because he’s unintentionally extraordinary brilliant, and perfectly believes he’s exactly what everyone needs at all times, everywhere he goes. The first film parodied what James Bond takes seriously. It was refreshing and funny, and classic British comedy – Rowen Atkinson was the one and only person to pull off what has now become an iconic British character.

It took a while for the second film to be released, and when it was, people were excited for it. Johnny English Reborn looked at different elements than the first. Still the same spy movie, parodying all what others take seriously. It wasn’t a carbon copy of the first, as some spoof movies happen to do as of late, but instead developed the characters differently than what came before, revealing layers we never saw before – making it equally as funny and quirky and fundamentally British as the first, keeping Johnny English on the list of iconic Britishness.

When it was announced that there would be a third movie, it was met with the same reaction as the second – we were all excited. We weren’t worried about where the characters would be taken this time, or what else could possibly be added to make this any different. To be honest, we weren’t worried about any part of this film. We just kind of didn’t overthink any of it. Instead, we waited for it to be released, and then we saw it, and only then did we put across our opinions.

Johnny English strikes again doesn’t pay any reference to the two previous movies, other than bringing back Johnny’s first right-hand man, Boff, because it doesn’t need to. He’s left the spy business but was eager to come back when invited – mainly because there was no one else available other than old team members, which Johnny promptly made sure weren’t available for long through acts of one blunder after another. There was no build up, we were thrown right back into the action, and therefore the quirkiness, the classic British humour, and everything else that has made this series of films iconic within the British public.

There are a few parallels with the third and first film, plot wise, but are different enough, we simply don’t care. I and many others can see where this film doesn’t quite remain as stable around the edges as the previous two, but due to Johnny English’s status among British public, it’s immune to all of that. We wouldn’t care if all they did with Johnny English is literally remake the first film frame by frame but with different actors other than Rowan; it’s Johnny English.

I will not be revealing any plot details in this review. There’s no need. Everyone in Britain will eventually see the film anyway, if they haven’t already watched the entire trilogy multiple times over. I cannot say anything bad about this film because I’ll probably be thrown in the Tower of London for treason. It’s Johnny English, through and through, enough said.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)