journal features
movie reviews
photo of the day

movie review - Johnny English Strikes Again

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Kokubunji, 2021.02.17

This is a spy spoof in which Rowan Atkinson plays a dimwitted secret agent of mostly good nature. We watched this for "movie night" and the kids seemed to dig it. The humor is pedestrian, the writing is nowhere near as sharp as you might expect. As in the past movie in this attenuated series, all the active spies are dead or compromised, and it's up to our hero English to save the day. Given that this also features Emma Thompson and Ben Miller, you'd expect more charisma and tone but nah.

Recommended. For movie night with the kids and only if they're undemanding.

rand()m quote

If you want your wife to listen to you, then talk to another woman: she will be all ears.

—Sigmund Freud