British intelligence was immortalised in the James Bond series, and its thrilling tropes were caricatured with finesse in Johnny English (2003) and again in the less memorable Johnny English Reborn (2011). Rowan Atkinson is the bumbling yet excessively confident spy whose previous espionage efforts were a mixture of luck, happenstance and desperation on the part of M17. David Kerr (That Mitchell and Webb Look) makes his feature film debut with the same style of British comedy that revels in its antiquity yet equally does not shy away from a gauche inadequacy to adapt to the confusing modern world.
Third time ’round sees our hero comfortably retired to a fine British primary school, mischievously employing the tricks of his former trade into the curriculum. Ingenuous students are soon schooled on martinis and even safe bomb diffusal. Getting the call once more from a rapidly compromised M17, he’s accompanied by former sidekick Bough (Ben Miller) and a slew of uncanny gadgets and personal effects-including one all-too-predictable dance scene where the sleeping pills and caffeine tablets are mixed up. Mark Zuckerberg wannabe Jason Volta (Jake Lacy-Miss Sloane) is the bratty millennial tech entrepreneur with a master algorithm that can restore the reputation of the embarrassingly outdated British Government, led by Emma Thompson’s hilarious channelling of Theresa May. Edging towards the dark side of the Internet, a dark subtext looms, but it’s quickly swept away with our spy’s latest idiosyncrasy. His dabble with a new age Virtual Reality system is a delightful romp that soon becomes a very much an augmented reality on the streets of London.
At times it’s clear that the lines between Mr Bean and Johnny English are blurred, but not at the expense of the comedy. After all, we’re seeing Rowan Atkinson at his slapstick best, complete with faux pas and a signature physicality that belies any sex symbol status that the spy genre prevails. Nostalgia abounds in his clear refusal to incorporate technology in his arsenal; a homage to Get Smart days and conveniently a plot device that allows the otherwise questionable plausibility of his success (and an excuse to showcase luscious French landscapes in an Aston Martin). The Cold War tensions trope would not be complete without a Russian bounty hunter on the loose, but Olga Kurylenko’s Ophelia introduces a fascination with her prey that’s more nuanced than your average villainess, and her obsession with her target makes way for an enjoyable chemistry.
Johnny English achieves exactly what it sets out to do by not taking itself too seriously, and neither should the audience.
Verdict: 7.5/10
Universal Pictures Australia
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