Johnny English [VHS] [2003]

My son wanted to rent this last weekend, and I was not keen. I'd read the press reviews stating how limp is was, and I looked on the reviews here and thought that the rather mixed response would probably tally with my own view that, Rowan Atkinson, whilst funny on the small screen (with the exception of Thin Blue Line and Mr. Bean, which I find funny but too excruciating after a while) does not translate well to the big screen as a main character.

How wrong I was.

We rented it and, begrudgingly, I watched it. In moments I was thoroughly enjoying it. It is a pure example of classic British Farce, and the jokes, visual and aural, are enough to keep you laughing out loud, a rare event for me!

Certainly, if one is looking for a modern day commentary of government policy, the futility of life in western society, or even subtle comedy that you can smugly chuckle at in the safe knowledge that the plebians around you are too uneducated to understand, go to an arts cinema, but if you wish to be entertained and have your mood lightened by some classic silliness, then buy this movie.

We did. The day after renting it.

This is one of my favourite DVD's, and I was shocked to find it in so many bargain bins and sales. The content is hillarious throughout, with Rowan Atkinson as the ridiculous Johnny English, Britain's last hope as a spy. The acting is of a continuously good standard, and the interchanges between Atkinson, and the long suffering sidekick Bof, (Ben Miller) are one of the best bits. At times the storyline goes off on a bit of a wobbler, but the jokes and gags will have you in stitches. A great family film, and especially good for pleasing the kids, while not sending you to sleep.

Considering that the premise for this film is based on a series of Barclaycard commercials, combined with the fact that I felt that these James Bond spy-like spoofs had been done to death (in the form of Austin Powers), and also the fact that everyone kept telling me that I wasn't missing anything from Johnny English, meant that when I finally got around to watching the film, I didn't hold out much hope. However all things considered, I was pretty impressed with what I got.

Rowan Atkinson plays the main character of Johnny English, a somewhat incompetent and half-witted clerk and secret agent for MI7. When an event causes the death of every single secret agent apart from Johnny, it's up to him to serve his queen and country by protecting the crown jewels. However despite his best efforts, they are stolen by Pascal Sauvage, a French man who has his eyes and the British throne, and also has a twisted desire into turning the entire United Kingdom in to a giant floating prison.

Needless to say, I was hooked from the moment I started to laugh at the opening sequence. The film is very comical throughout, very silly in places but more importantly it's also genuinely funny. While some of the jokes are old school to say the least, and not exactly original, they are still pretty funny when delivered in the way they are. Add some brilliant scenes, such as the car chase, some action, some romance, and not to forget the scene where Johnny English pretends to fight a made up burglar (with orange hair, and an eye patch among other things) makes for a very funny film.

The plot and script while not exactly Shakespeare were constant and well structured. Even the ending of Johnny English was pretty much picture perfect and entertaining.

Rowan Atkinson as usual is perfect in his role, and delivers a hilarious but natural and seamless performance. His sidekick played by Ben Millar is also pretty good. However I did feel that Natalie Imbruglia performance was a bit disappointing, and she is perhaps under used to some extent.

Johnny English isn't by any means perfect. It is a bit too predictable at times and even weak in places, along the lines of maybe just too unrealistic, but considering the film's genre it's forgivable, especially when it results in such a funny way. The humor and it's context may put some off, and some won't like Rowan Atkinsons style, as a result I'm sure that this film won't please everybody. The special features included on the DVD, are not exactly the most interesting, they include "The Making Of Johnny English" and "Character Profiles." which were pretty disappointing.

But overall a very fun comedy, that delivers several brilliant laugh out loud moments, and also a few scenes of toilet humour. While not being too outrageous, it still makes you laugh.

Johnny English is no where near as bad as what I expected. While it's not the greatest nor the most intelligent film of recent times, it's one that's entertaining none the less. If your looking for something to sit down and watch, a film that will make you laugh without demanding much use of your Brain, then Johnny English is an ideal choice.