But, despite its satisfying differences to similarly-themed movies,
Johnny English just struggles to find laughs. Tellingly to the movie's
genesis, the whole exercise tends to consist of advert-length
set-pieces, most mildly amusing yet painfully predictable.
Peter Howitt's direction is very good, bringing pace and visual spark to
a film blessed with higher-than-usual production values for a British
film. The plot is a good-natured romp from some accomplished Bond
screenwriters - but utterly ridiculous. This tone would work if the
movie was attempting to be Naked Gun-style zany, but fails because of
Johnny English's more serious attitude.
The supporting cast are good, but wasted. Ben Miller is pushed into the
background by Atkinson on too many occasions, meaning a potentially
funny double-act never arises. But the real downer for Miller is that
his character was far funnier in the adverts from where he originated!
(DVDfever Ed: "And he was played by Henry Naylor!")
Likewise, Natalie Imbruglia (ex-Neighbours, occasional pop star) shows
great ability and beauty, but is only used as window-dressing. A
romantic angle with English is badly fudged early on - completely
sidelining a rich vein of comedy that would have felt fresh amidst the
endless pratfalls and 'wrong end of the stick'-style guffaws.
Eccentric American actor John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons) adds
another seething villain to his repertoire, this time cursed with a
ludicrously bad French accent. It's amusing to find that while US films
consistently cast Brits as villains; we don't repay the favour here -
instead opting to trounce the French!
Overall, Johnny English is an over-eager failure. But it's not without
its moments. A spiritedly funny chase sequence through London and some
mishaps with a muscle-relaxant both hint at the potential that was
smothered by a ridiculously unbelievable plot, a snubbed supporting cast
and general lack of consistent (and original) gags that aren't
signposted.
Still, with some product placement, this could have been the greatest
Barclaycard commercial ever!
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
