If, like me, you were a big fan of Johnny English, you're probably a massive fan of Rowan Atkinson in general. Frankly, I'd probably pay to see him in anything up to and including a one-man-show remake of Terminator 2, Alien and The Shawshank Redemption. However, like me, even as a fan you were probably thinking that despite a cult following, it wasn't really popular enough to get a sequel, let alone that one should come out eight years after the original, when pretty much every one had forgotten about the first. But NO! NO! Said Hollywood...Well, Atkinson and the writing staff really. But I'm glad they did.
Let's get this straight, no one going to see this is expecting to see a genuinely great piece of cinema, and more over, no one is really expecting the story being told to be anything more than a vehicle for spy spoofs, but what you should expect, is that any film with Rowan Atkinson attached is going to be a comedy treat with bells on it. And that's exactly what this sequel delivers.
Simply put, JER runs very similarly to the first, but plays off on the predecessor for the benefit of the fans. A great deal of the jokes are made with reference to English's previous bumblings in either the first film or the gap in between, and it's still absolutely hilarious. The plot of the film itself is essentially an amalgamation of GoldenEye and Die Another Day, spoofed in the way only we British folk can: slapsticktastically. If nothing else, this will be a guaranteed guilty pleasure for most people, as you'll catch yourself laughing even when you recognise that some of the humour is occasionally a bit cheesey.
Personally, it's something of a joy to see Atkinson back on the screen after a four year absence, because the man is a national treasure. There's a reason he's heralded as one of the finest comedy actors around, and oddly enough, Johnny English is one of the perfect characters for him to display it: he does the goofed up suave spoofs and the completely ludicrous rubber-faced classics of his Mr. Bean days (particularly shown off in the brilliantly daft Rocky-montage-ish Monk scene at the start). He is certainly the star of the show, as the screen time is almost entirely dedicated to him, and you can't help but love him.
As for the support, Rosamund Pike makes you laugh simply by recalling that she played a similar role in a Bond film ten years ago, and Gillian Anderson gives a performance you'd expect from an 'M' of a spy film. However, the secret pleasure we get out of all the support is that Tim McInnery joins Atkinson on screen once more, as his 'Q', Patch Quartermaine. McInnery's appearance reminds you just a tad of Darling in Blackadder, which as we all know, is certainly not a bad thing. The only shame is that Ben Miller's character from the first film, Bough is not seen at any point, and a daft cameo would very much have been appreciated by the fans.
Overall, this is a 'you get what you pay for' film. You turn up expecting a daft hour and a half of Rowan Atkinson doing what he does best, and in no way do you leave disappointed. Complaints? If I have any, they would simply be MORE, the second half of the film tends to leave you waiting longer between gags than the first, but when they arrive, they're usually spot on.
3/5 - I'm certainly not saying it's bad, because it's not (I was genuinely surprised by this), but it's not going to be the best comedy you're likely to find at the cinema. However, it certainly makes you laugh, and...well...It's Rowan Atkinson again!
P.S. Stick around after the credits for a great Morecambe and Wise style kitchen musical number.
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