Rowan Atkinson Keeps Slapstick Comedy Alive in 'Johnny English Strikes Again'

Sir Rowan Atkinson rarely comes out of the woods to do movies, and it's always exciting when he does. He's mostly known for his Bean series, but his Johnny English is also quickly becoming popular. This can be considered his version of the secret agent genre ala James Bond, Mission Impossible, etc.

Launched in 2003 alongside singer-actress Natalie Imbruglia, Johnny English becomes Britain's most confident yet half-witted spy who goes on to find the thief responsible for the missing crown jewels. Almost a decade after, he's back in Johnny English Reborn and goes up against assassins to protect the Chinese Premier.

Photo credits: United International Pictures

This year in Johnny English Strikes Again, English was tasked to inspect the sudden cyber attacks a week before the Prime Minister (Emma Thompson) meets with a Silicon Valley billionaire, Jason Volta (Jake Lacey), to create an agreement between G12 nations. A bit shady to Brexit, to be quite honest. But that's how comedy works.

Rowan Atkinson keeps slapstick comedy alive and I hope he keeps the fire going. What he does here, is what he already did before and that's okay because physical comedy is what he does best, and what people love him for. It's a testament to his legacy that he still looks and acts the same as the first time we saw him in the Johnny English role. There's little to no trace of aging, and he's still unbelievably agile--whether he is epically falling from the terrace of a ship, or dancing energetically on the dance floor all night, or driving a vintage car on the steep streets of Southern France. He's hilarious and there are no buts.

Perhaps, the biggest quibble one would say about the film is although it progresses swiftly, it doesn't develop into something bigger. It's just a series of misadventures, and inadvertent successes that are funny and moronic but a bit repetitive and wouldn't knock anyone's socks off. Spy comedies often go big in the third act, but Johnny English Strikes Again is the opposite. The third act where the G12 nations gather in a Scottish island cannot hold a candle to the chase scene in the beginning and the uproarious VR scene in the middle of the film.

Photo Credits: United International Pictures

It's biggest crime though is how it underutilized Emma Thompson as Britain's no-nonsense Prime Minister. She's fantastic, as usual, but she had no standout scene. For a prime minister, her role could easily be considered thankless. Same with Jake Lacy whose film career is starting to be questionable. 

Needless to say, Rowan Atkinson is still the one and only star of the film. With a little help from Ben Miller's Bough and this sequel's muse Olga Kurylenko, they make a fun team.