Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) - But Does it Strike Good? | Intricate Films

Rowan Atkinson. The English comic legend who is famous for his humorous masterpieces, Mr. Bean, Blackadder, and of course, Johnny English apart from the rest. Now I have to say that I loved the first 2 movies of the Johnny English series, despite their very obvious and apparent flaws. Why? These are films we see to get a good laugh out of us and not for their "brilliant acting" or "production quality."

Now let's get to the latest release. I would be the biggest liar the world has seen if I claimed I wasn't excited at all to go see the film. It started just the way 'Johnny English Reborn', the 2nd movie of the series did, with the British intelligence seeking out Johnny English's, well, "intelligence", if I may.

This time, the plot is about a digital cyber attack on Britain, and the identity of those involved is unknown. Jason Volta, an American technical genius and entrepreneur is called in by the British Prime Minister for help. But the seemingly smart and ambitious Volta along with his tech laden yacht, The Dot Calm seems even more sinister than expected.

I really like how they portray the digital advancement our world is going through, in sharp contrast to Mr. English who seems to be stuck in the past, which has created a whole lot of humorous situations throughout the story.

Being a car guy, I really like the choice of "The Car." In the first film, it was a blue Aston Martin DB7 Vantage which unfortunately seemed to be a bit too Bond -esque and not original enough, even though the entire series is a parody. The 2nd film had a Rolls Royce Phantom with an experimental engine, but the car unfortunately did not have a properly connected feel for the story. This time, it's a gorgeous 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage classic in tasteful red. I like the way they say, "It has no chips, nor computers, and thus is virtually untraceable," in contrast to the more boring hybrids Johnny was offered. I mention all of this to draw a contrast between the past and the present in the movie, which I mentioned above.

But one issue which was apparent from the start was a sense of disconnection between English and the MI7. The reason I'm pointing this out is because it's rather unsettling to see the Prime Minister hand over the fate of an entire country to English and then have absolutely very little contact with him afterwards. Also, the renouned "Pegasus" seems to be having quite unnatural and forced meetings and conversations with English.

But one thing which compensated for this in a way was the return of Bough. I must say, it was rather unfortunate to have his absence in the second film. The chemistry between English and Bough (Played by Ben Miller) is absolutely perfect, even compared to Tucker from the 2nd film which was still good enough.

But there is someone missing from the picture. It is The Queen, of course! Well, for those who didn't watch the second film, I don't want to spoil the ending for you, but they seem to have run out of ideas to continue the story with the Queen after "the event" which happened at the end of the second film. So their solution was simple. Ditch Her Highness completely.

So this is what I have to say. If you're interested in watching a movie filled with classic British humour and general light heartedness, while at the same time, the story is quite the opposite, or if you simply love Rowan Atkinson's work in general, this is a must watch for you.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with the typical Johnny English style Buffoonish humour combined with excellent classic sarcasm, irony and wit, even though when you see it as a movie, without looking at the jokes, it was a bit of a disappointment.

I personally feel this is a movie only meant to be enjoyed for its jokes and that is exactly what I did, even though as a whole, as I mentioned previously, it wasn't so great. In terms of humour, it most certainly does match up to its predecessors and seems more focussed on the jokes than the story itself, without sacrificing too much of a good movie's worth, and I find that quite appealing.
                                                    - Abhyjith Ashokan

The Important Characters and their Casts:

* Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English, the "legendary" secret agent for the MI7 who takes us through the story with laughs due to his comic nature. He is a schoolteacher in the beginning and is sought after by the MI7 after Britain's digital government systems get hacked

* Olga Kurylenko as Ophelia, the Russian spy who while at first, tries to finish English off, viewing him as a threat, but later  acquaints with him as they try to take down the villain together.

* Ben Miller as Bough, English's old assistant who nostalgically is a part of this story.

* Jake Lacy as Jason Volta, the Silicon Valley tech billionaire who owns the Dot Calm yacht. He is contacted by the Prime Minister to help with the hacking issue.

* Emma Thompson as The Prime Minister, who is portrayed as a stressed out and nervous lady who obviously plays a significant role in the film.

* Adam James as Pegasus, the head of MI7 who tasks English with the mission.

Intricate Meter - 4.5/10

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                                                           - Abhyjith and Arvind