Johnny English Strikes Again Review

Johnny English Strikes Again

Release Date: 20th September 2018 - Australia

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

Perfect World Pictures

Working Title Films

StudioCanal

Distribution

Universal Pictures Australia

Genre: Action/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 89 minutes

Budget: $25,000,000

Box Office Gross: $158,256,993 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Johnny English is now a teacher at a boarding school, but he is called back from retirement by M17 on one

last mission. Due to the

cyberspace attack that

exposed the identities of

all the undercover agents,

the agency and the British

Prime Minister have no choice but to turn to the bumbling former secret agent, their only hope.

His old sidekick, Bough, joins him on his mission, and they venture to the South of France to locate the mastermind. English must be familiar with modern technology and new gadgets, such as virtual reality headsets, to succeed in this mission.

Cast

Rowan Atkinson - Johnny English

Ben Miller - Angus Bough

Emma Thompson - British Prime Minister

Olga Kurylenko - Ophelia

Adam James - Pegasus

Miranda Hennessy - Tara

Jake Lacy - Jason

Pippa Bennett-Warner - Lesley

Irena Tyshyna - Viola Lynch

Adam Greaves-Neal - Tomlinson

Tuncay Gunes - Ted Guest

Peter Singh - Officer Kohli

David Mumeni - Fabian
Samantha Russell - Swedish Prime Minister

Michael Gambon - Agent Five (Cameo)
Charles Dance - Agent Seven (Cameo)

Edward Fox - Agent Nine (Cameo)

Crew

Director - David Kerr

Based on Characters - Robert Wade and
Neal Purvis

Based on Characters/Screenplay/

Executive Producer - William Davies

Executive Producer - Liza Chasin

Producers - Tim Bevan,
Chris Clark and Eric Fellner

Co-Producer - Andrew Warren

Production Designer - Simon Bowles

Supervising Art Director - Ben Collins

Set Decorator - Liz Griffiths

Costume Designer - Annie Hardinge

Hair and Makeup Designer - Graham Johnston

Cinematography - Florian Hoffmeister

Second Unit Director - Vic Armstrong

Stunt Coordinator - Paul Herbert

Stunt Coordinator: France - Dominique Fouassier

Special Effects Supervisor - Richard Van Den Bergh

Special Effects Coordinator - Egle Sveikauskyte

Designer Engineer Technician - Daniel Burnett

Visual Effects Supervisor: BlueBolt -

Angela Barson

BlueBolt Supervisor - Henry Badgett

Editor - Mark Everson

Additional Editor - Tony Cranstoun

Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor -

Glenn Freemantle

Re-Recording Mixers - Ian Tapp and

Ian Duncan

Foley Walkers - Peter Burgis

and Zoe Freed

Music - Howard Goodall

Music Supervisor - Nick Angel

Score Mixers - Peter Cobbin and

Kirsty Whalley

Review

The third in the series, JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN, follows the eponymous secret agent as he comes to terms with the age of digital technology. What began as an intentional spoof of the James Bond franchise in 2003 has since become obsolete. The success of Spy and Kingsman with their off-colour humour and gratuitous violence paved the way for this trend of modern spy-fi action spoofs. However, the filmmakers have insisted on keeping the lighthearted approach on STRIKES AGAIN, like its predecessors. The movie is a sheer farce, given its exhausting use of slapstick and spy tropes that have become clichéd. In a nod to the digital age, Johnny's virtual reality addiction has hilarious consequences.

Rowan Atkinson is back in his secret agent character for the third time. He appeared to have gotten over being middle-aged and semi-retired from the last Johnny English movie. Despite being a little over the top, we are glad that Atkinson has returned for the camera. Olga Kurylenko was once a Bond girl in Quantum of Solace. But ten years later, she acts her way into the spoof of the franchise and portrays Johnny's love interest, Ophelia. Emma Thompson has experience with both comedy and drama, and in this movie, her role as England's Prime Minister comes off as too scatty for her.

Be on the lookout for Charles Dance and Michael Gambon as they both have cameo roles as retired secret agents who Johnny English accidentally incapacitates.

Overall, STRIKES AGAIN may be either a continuation or a conclusion to the character conceived by the veteran British comedian for cinematic purposes. The film is not, by all means, perfect, but it's still a funny take on the spy-fi genre.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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