Johnny English

Johnny English starts off a little bit like Bean: For some reason, wildly constructed, Rowan Atkinson ends up in a position that is far beyond his capabilities. Where Bean turns from Museum Guard to Museum curator impersonator, Johnny English turns from male Monneypenny-alike mission planner to James Bond replacement.

Sort of.

In a Bean kind of way, of course. Now that is where comparison with Bean should stop: Johnny English talks, for one thing, and doesn't just gesticulate around like a bit of a moron. And while he still causes a lot of trouble and shines in his incompetence, he manages to be far more charming and far less annoying than Mr Bean is in a 90 minute movie. Expect lots of visual humour, but also the odd moment of funny dialogue (the "making love" dialogue scene is quite hilarious)

The plot is standard Bond fare: A French tycoon is up to no good, stealing crown jewels and trying to become king of.... England, oddly enough. There is a Bond girl, played by Natalie Imbruglia and sharing more similarities with Sophie Yeoh's butt-kicking bond girl than with the more traditional damsel in distress. But unfortunately, there is no equivalent to Q, nor to M and the movie is a bit too much of a one-man show.

How does it fare then? On the laughter front it was quite satisfying, easily outmanoeuvering the once-too-often repeated Austin Powers, putting anything recent by Leslie Nielsen to shame and being an altogether fine Bond spoof. There is lots of slapstick (including the disgusting kind), but the movie manages to be less over the top and closer to Bond than to old National Lampoon / Mel Brooks movies.

Altogether the movie was pleasantly surprising - better than Bean (which isn't too hard, to be honest) and Austin Powers (although it is a different kind of spoof). Still not brilliant, but a good dose of old-fashioned entertainment. Pity the trailer gave away quite a lot of the best bits.

Plus, the bad guy was supposedly French, what more could you ask for?

A funny spy parody that gives decent laughs. If you love Mr Bean you should love Johnny English it's really enjoyable and engaging I would recommend. After watching this you'll want to continue with the rest of the trilogy too.

Silly as hell, but funny as anything! Rowan Atkinson once again shows the world his talents - impeccable comic timing, style, a little bit of cheekiness, and superb acting. This movie is a personal favourite of mine, and I reckon it is perfect to watch anytime you feel low or need some cheering up. The man who brought you Bean (1997), now brings you Johnny English, a parody of James Bond. I loved Bean, and I love this one just as much, if not more. Ignore the pathetic critics that rate this as crap, because it most certainly isn't. It is a piece of comedy that you will not regret seeing - I recommend this to anyone. Heck, even my grandmother liked it! (And that's saying something)

Seriously, if you haven't watched this, you really need to.

Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is a bureaucratic employee of the British Secret Service, who dreams to be a charming agent. His dreams come true when all the British agents die, due to the lack of security in a funeral where he was the responsible. Johnny English, with the support of his assistant Bough (Ben Miller) and Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia), fights against the evil Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovitch), a powerful French who wants to be the king of the United Kingdom and transforms England in a great prison for all criminals of the world. This silly story is a very funny parody of 007 movies. Rowan Atkinson is very hilarious, as usual, and it is impossible not laughing with his stupidities. The singer Natalie Imbruglia is very beautiful, the unknown Ben Miller is the efficient assistant of Johnny English, and John Malkovitch, with a ridiculous French accent, complete the funny cast of this comedy. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Johnny English'

A clumsy daydreamer by the name of Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson), who works for the Secret Spy Agency. When all the British Top Spies are killed, they asked Johnny to take over the case to investigate a mysterious rich evil french man by the name of Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich). Johnny's only help is from his loyal partner (Ben Miller) and a beautiful, mysterious spy woman (Natalie Imbruglia) could help bring Sauvage to Justice.

Directed by Peter Howitt (Anti-Trust, Laws of Attraction, Sliding Doors) made a entertaining comedy that spoofs the films of James Bond and The Naked Gun Trilogy. Atkinson is a delight and Malkovich is at his silliest role to date (He seems to have a real good time in this movie). The film's plot is surprisingly good but you wish, there is more laughs at times. Atkinson's fans won't be disappointed.

DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer (Also sharp in Pan & Scan transfer) and an good-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DVD Extras are Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes Featurette and more. Kids will probably enjoy this more than the adults. Written by Neal Purvis (The World is Not Enough), Robert Wade (Die Another Day) and William Davies (Twins). (*** ½/*****).