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Visitors Review

harrychapman 2012-05-21 23:48:44

Hysterically funny from Rowan Atkinson

SPOILERSRowan Atkinson stars in another Mr. Bean style role as 'Johnny English' abumbling secret agent whose task it is to rescue the British crown jewelsafter they are stolen by a corrupt Frenchman (John Malkovich) who intends tocrown himself King of England after forcing the Queen to abdicate. On hisway he gets himself into all sorts of mishaps like getting covered in pooand gatecrashing a hospital until he manages to prevent the crowning inWestminster Abbey with a raid which saves the country from becoming aworldwide prison for the world's human rubbish. 'Johnny English' on thewhole is wonderfully funny with Rowan Atkinson providing many laughs andJohn Malkovich's ridiculous French accent make this a must see for all thosewho liked 'Bean' or the Mr Bean TV series.

Moira MacDonald 2012-05-21 02:29:22

Johnny English may well be too specifically British, and too slight, to connect strongly with audiences, but it's a pleasant enough diversion.

Peter Travers 2012-05-20 21:05:28

Mike Myers has worked this material to death.

kamshak11 2012-05-20 10:43:53

My view

I hated this movie. I actually couldn't believe so many gave it marginalreviews. As a fan of Atkinson through his Mr. Bean television show and themovie, I expected so much more.When I watch a comedy, I expect to laugh a lot. I didn't even smile much,let alone laugh. Only semi-humorous parts were in the first third of themovie. Atkinson's brilliance was wasted big time here on stupid scenes.Exactly what was funny about him getting his tie caught in that conveyorbelt or getting dumped on with raw sewage? Ugh.Then there is the JohnMalkovich character. Why in the world did a top notch actor like him nottoss the script in the trash when he first read it? Top to bottom a wasteofmy time.

ogami-itto 2012-05-17 14:48:53

For the love of God why?

I am a huge Rowan Atkinson fan. I grew up on Blackadder and Mr Bean and hisearly stand-up material ranks up there with the greats. Even the Barclaycardadverts on which this film were based made me laugh. I guess that's why Ifeel so betrayed by this film. When you see one of your childhood favouritessinking so low it tends to get under your skin. First off, Rowan actuallygives a good performance, his comic timing is as perfect as ever. It's justthe material doesn't have much of the comic about it. Every joke ispredictable, from the pen to the ejector seat. The cast is pretty strong, true Natalie Imbruglia is only there as the loveinterest but she plays it well. Ben Miller is his usual reliable self asBough. It could have been so great. But even a good cast can't do much withsuch lousy material and their best efforts fall flat.The film's biggest problem, even more than the script, is John Malkovich.Yes, John Malkovich, godlike genius actor. How he'll ever be able to justifythis film is beyond me. For someone so acclaimed to give such an offensive,ill-judged performance is saddening. This is also the question of the filmshorribly xenophobic anti-french jokes. Though that should mean it'll get agood reception in certain parts of the U.S. If you're really a Rowan fan you'll do well to avoid this film, pretendyou've never heard of it. You'll thank me for it.

Freycinet 2012-05-16 18:58:47

Turned of by "Mr. Bean - The Movie"? - This is much better.

Went into the cinema with great trepidation (after having seen the firstMr.Bean movie, which was a total flop) but came away laughing heartily. Thisspy movie spoof is actually quite funny, Atkinson and Malkovich give somegreat perfomances. A good movie if you want some light-heartedfun.

William C. Uchtman 2012-05-15 14:59:41

Excellent Rowan Atkinson

I'm a big Rowan fan. He's possibly the funniest man to come out ofGreat Britain since Dave Allen and Benny Hill. After the hollowanti-climax of "Mr. Bean" and his limitations in "Rat Race," it wasinteresting to see him go all out in a full spy spoof following thelimited potential of his spy commercials. "Johnny English" is anamusing farce with a good action and intrigue plot, but unfortunatelyconstantly embarrassing Rowan the main hero constantly discovering theerror of his hurried assumptions and cockamamie plans isn't greatcomedy. The movie actually seems like one long joke on the French andsometimes insulting to both the French and British cultures, but Iguess they get the joke; it's still a heck of a lot better than thatgod-awful Austin Powers which somehow spawned two more unfortunatesequels. Obviously, Johnny English knows he's not really a great spyand he works hard to create that image, but the humor works when he'ssurprised when things actually work for him. Ben Miller plays theclueless but obedient Bough who assists Johnny and takes his lead;after all, Johnny is his best friend and he cares a lot for him anddoesn't want to see him get hurt. Natalie Imbruglia is a beautiful andwhimsically experienced special agent to share the plot and provide thelove interest. John Malkovich at first seems miscast, but he portraysthe villain with an ironic sense of whimsy. He's funny because he's theone person who gives Johnny the best piece of ill-timed logic: "If Iwas you, I would not go there." just before Johnny embarrasses himselfand everyone else for the hundredth and worst time. Despite a few oddconveniences providing plot points and moments of embarrassing comedy,"Johnny English" is a very funny comedy and one very worthy ofdeserving a sequel.

Dave 2012-05-14 20:55:58

Cheap

When a Hollywood studio commissions an English character they select fromone of three racist stereotype pigeonholes, resulting in characters withallthe depth of a paddling pool, namely:a) Mustache-twiddling sadistic baddieb) Ludicrously camp pervertc) Bumbling idiot.In this case Rowan Atkinson plays the fool with all the grace of Mr. Beanand all the subtlety of a Hydrogen Bomb. The pantomime villain's roletakenby John Malkovich (boo, hiss, look behind you) who is obviously enjoyinghimself but probably isn't in the running for an Oscar this time. A direfilm with no redeeming features, Ben Miller's obvious talents tragicallywasted and the best performance coming from the Aston Martin. RowanAtkinson, who I so admired in his early days in such brilliantly craftedseries as Blackadder and Not the Nine O'Clock News has become lazy andunfunny. A shameful mess all round.

Theo Robertson 2012-05-13 06:17:00

Not The Worst Brit Comedy You Will See

The critics were unkind to this and I got the impression it was down totwo reasons:1 ) The character Johnny English is based on a character that appearedon credit card adverts in the early 1990s . you get the gut instinctthat character development isn't something that applies to charactersappearing in adverts 2 ) Bond spoofs are old hat and weren't all that funny in the firstplace So I was sat there at Christmas thinking I'd be watching something withall the appeal of 37 day old turkey sandwiches but I was fairlyimpressed . Okay I wasn't rolling around the floor with tears streamingdown my face but I've always liked Rowan Atkinson's arrogant portrayalof Edmund Blackadder and the character of Johhny English is just assimilar to Blackadder as it is to Mr Bean . I will grant you the jokesare hit and miss or predictable like the scene where Englishinfiltrates the villains HQ and finds an old man : " What did they do to you ? " " They took some of my blood "" The b@stards " Of course you can see the pay off long before it appears but that stilldoesn't stop it from being amusing when it doesNo doubt a lot of pretentious John Malkovich fans were left stratchingtheir heads wondering why he was slumming it in JOHNNY English but ifyou've enjoyed anything Rowan Atkinson has been in you'll certainlyfind this comedy very watchable

Asbjørn Lund 2012-05-12 19:06:57

ROFLMAO

Having turned in an assignment, a member of my study group and I went toseea film, and we chose Johnny English. I expected the usual ridiculous RowanAtkinson comedy - I have to say, that I loved The Blackadder series, butnotMr. Bean. I don't know if the reason was that I hadn't slept for 36 hours,but I laughed my balls off. Actually I found this film funny. It mighthelp,that I'm Danish, but it really was funny. All the time it was "No, heain'tgonna do that... he's doing it!!!"Actually I think I'll recommend it for my mom, who HATES every RowanAtkinson character.

2012-05-10 15:41:46

Disappointment

It was a big risk to pay a ticket for a film with Rowan Atkinson.AfterwardsI was really disappointed to spend my money on a cheap movie like this.Please don't spend your precious money on this childish, dull, ridiculousmovie.The definition of a comedy is more or less: a film with as purpose to makeyou laugh. There was just one moment I had to laugh, and that's a bit poorfor a comedy, isn't it?The plot of the film is one of the worst I've ever seen. It was the firsttime a felt vicarious shame during the seeing of a film. My 4-year old soncan make up better plots than this one.Some positive aspects are:- Nathalie Imbruglia's acting wasn't bad, John Malkovich's wasn'tneither.- One hilarious, really hilarious moment. (I'm still laughing)- Rowan Atkinson

commodusone 2012-05-10 03:20:17

Disposable Entertainment

Again it all boils down to what you are expecting. Sometimes reading reviewsbefore you see a movie can be a bad idea, but saying that it can sometimesoutline what you will be getting. One key point that I read before seeingthis movie was that it aims a little younger than say Austin Powers. Nowthat pre armed me with what to expect and true enough it is aimed at ayounger audience but saying that it was very entertaining quite similar toInspector Clouseau and his reliable Kato.I enjoyed it at times it was a little silly and the jokes are quitepredictable but they are well executed and there were a few little surprisesthat were very funny. People attack Malkovich but this is supposed to bepantomime and the baddy is supposed to be over the top and a little sillythe plot is lamentable and just a tool to put people in comedic situationsNatalie is absolutely stunning.If your in the mood for some light hearted English fun then go and see itlets face it you know what to expect with Rowan Atkinson this is a sort of across between the Thin blue line meets Bean meets Blackadder.

planktonrules 2012-05-08 23:34:55

Rowan Atkinson was capable of so much better than this

Had I never seen the various Blackadder shows as well as Mr. Bean, Iprobably would have enjoyed this film a little more. However, I knowthat Rowan Atkinson can be a tremendously funny man and he is quite thetalent. Sadly, little of Atkinson's genius for comedy is evident here,as this spy film features exceptionally broad and dopey comedy--withnone of the sophistication or finesse of his other work.Now for people unfamiliar with Atkinson (especially the kids), thisstill might be a decent time-passer. After all, they won't have thesame expectations and this is a family-friendly movie. But for folkslike me that expect more, stay clear of this amazingly flat movie.

insane_chimp 2012-05-08 09:29:26

A mockery

Utter rubbish. Hollywood has clearly run out of ideas as we see with suchthings as its remake of the Italian job or the proposed movie of the whowants to be a millionaire fraud case. This film is just an Americanmockeryof being English - funny only because they do not understand Englishcustomsand ways and they dreadfully over exaggerate everything. I do not knowwhyRowan Attkinson lowered himself to this level, he has done FAR betterthings. Personally i feel that one half hour episode of Blackadder wouldgive the audience far more pleasure than this xenophobia andstereotyping

Prophet Tenebrae 2012-05-07 20:24:27

God save us from such diabolical films as this

The Austin Powers franchise has demonstrated that really demonstratedthat - much like the horror genre - the spy genre is so rife withself-parody that there is not that much which one can do.When a film rotates solely around the tediously predictable idiocy ofone man, there can be little of much amusement and as this film isallegedly a "comedy" then there can be precious little point inwatching it. While having rusty nails hammered into your legs wouldprobably be more painful, it probably wouldn't be by much.Please, don't watch this film.It really isn't anything to do with comedy. It's just so terrible thatyou're wasting your time. If you want to be entertained, watchsomething, anything else.

jiujitsu_jesus 2012-05-07 06:01:32

New-age hilarity

JOHNNY English is a comedy, pure and simple. It makes no pretensions tocomplexity, beauty or scriptwriting prowess, but is entirely devoted tothe entertainment of the viewer. Such comedies are becomingincreasingly rare nowadays, and this fine example deserves all theaccolades it receives.Rowan Atkinson rules the screen in his customary manner as JohnnyEnglish, a bumbling British bureaucrat who is transferred to MI5 afterunwillingly causing the death of one of its top agents. Assisted by abeautiful and sassy Interpol officer (Natalie Imbruglia), he doesbattle with Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich), a nasty French businesstycoon who has his eyes on the British crown. This is a uniqueperformance from Atkinson, meshing the best comedic attributes of hisbest known characters into a coherent whole. Johnny English has all therib-tickling sardonic wit of Blackadder and the unpredictable slapstickskill of Mr. Bean, and comedy fans of all tastes are sure to findsomething to their liking in this character.Aussie songbird Natalie Imbruglia, however, proves that she's a muchbetter musician than an actress. She's not bad, but she fails to reachthe high threshold set by her co-stars. I have not seen any of herother films, so I don't know whether this is a reflection of herskills, or whether she was simply miscast. Regardless, her incongruousperformance detracts from the dialogue somewhat, leaving the moviefeeling a little unbalanced. She looks great, though! "Mad" John Malkovich is characteristically quirky and extremelyconvincing as the villain - his French accent has improved out of sightsince THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK. Providing a good background performanceis Ben Miller as English's sidekick Bough, his consistent, pervasivedry humour a good foil to Atkinson's exuberance.JOHNNY English requires no particular attitude or mindset whatsoever.It is a comedy, pure and simple, and an excellent one at that. 9/10.

weasel23 2012-05-04 16:04:27

Only mildly amusing but worth a look

Rowan Atkinson performs to expectation in this comic homage to the world ofJames Bond, as the hapless / unlucky titular hero, plucked from obscurity totake the 007 role and save the world. By turns arrogantly officious andpainfully embarrassed, English muddles through with help from sidekick Bough(an excellent turn from Ben Miller) and love interest Campbell (NatalieImbruglia making the best of a shallow role). While some complain that mostof the gags are highly predictable, the comedy is really centered onAtkinson's reaction to the situation everyone but him could see was coming.Malkovich coasts through his role as Pascal Sauvage, which might have suitedsomeone with a real accent better (Vincent Cassel, perhaps. Maybe nexttime).In all, while it has it's flaws, Johnny English has enough character toencourage a sequel, as long as the producers don't attempt to 'reset' thecharacter to trot out a cheap rehash.Failing that, I'd encourage a spin-off franchise for Bough.

2012-05-04 05:15:56

Just silly fun

I took my kids, ages 12, 10, and 8, and got my money's worth just watching them laugh hysterically. It is a very cute movie and innocent (potty jokes aside)--won't have to mute or fast forward this one to watch it with the kids like so many other movies. Rowan Atkinson's slapstick is a real pleasure, and I swear the man's face is made of rubber! I appreciate something I can show to my 8 year old and my 75 year old mom at the same time--and so completely enjoy it myself!

jwar 2012-05-02 03:31:35

disappointed

I love Rowan Atkinson as Bean and I really liked Bean the Movie but as somehave said they spoiled the movie with the trailers. Besides that, I believeit was more of the writing/directing that was at fault. There just wasn'tthat Rowan Magic. I looked forward to that movie for a year and took mywhole family and regreted not waiting for the video. Paying over $30 fornothing is tough when things are tight.I'm not saying it was awful, just not worthy of Rowans great talent. 5/10

2012-05-01 11:11:05

Difficulties with DVD playback

Tried playing this DVD on an older Hitachi DVD player and on my computer. It was a 'no go' right from the start. Playback froze up on the DVD player and jumped around on the computer. I suppose this is the result of some brain-dead anti-piracy feature. Rowan Atkinson could play the role of the Universal exec who thought that up!