JOHNNY ENGLISH : REBORN - archive from 5th October 2011.

Took the lad and his mate to see 'JOHNNY ENGLISH - REBORN' this arvo and as you would expect of Rowan Atkinson it combines the charm & gadgetry of James Bond; the campness of Austin Powers; the slapstick of Mr. Bean; and the wit & sarcasm of Edmund Blackadder. Directed by Oliver Parker this second (and so far last) instalment in the series was made for US$45M and grossed (perhaps unbelievably) US$160M, so clearly it found an audience who appreciated this for what it is, and the unique physical comedy of one Mr. Atkinson.


This film takes off five years after the first film ended and sees Agent English holed up in Tibet learning some mysterious ancient martial art and serving out his penance for the botched job he was held responsible for in Mozambique at the end of the last film - he has been stripped of his Knighthood too. Learning of a plot against a prominent world leader English's superiors back at MI-7 call for him to return to the London headquarters which is now led by 'Pegasus' (aka Pamela Thornton, played out by Gillian Anderson) who give English the details of what they know, and the plan to thwart the attack. This is where English comes in aided by gadget inventor extraordinaire Patch Quartermain (Tim McInnerney). The plot surrounds taking out the Chinese Premier while he is having talks with the British Prime Minister.

Fast forward to Hong Kong and the action takes us there as a group of assassins (known as 'Vortex') hold a secret weapon that can only be unlocked by three metallic keys - one of which comes into the hands of our fearless secret agent, who promptly loses it on a plane trip back to London. In the meantime however, it is learned that 'Vortex' were responsible for the mess in Mozambique, which pretty much absolves English from guilt, but this still needs concrete proof for the powers that be at MI-7 to believe him.

Various 'Vortex' assassins come and go until there is one remaining, and as the story moves along with the finger of suspicion pointed firmly within the KGB, CIA and even MI-7, English must uncover the truth and prevent the assassination attempt from going down in the Swiss Alps whilst trying to clear his own name and protect those around him - although, who can he really trust? With various set pieces involving a foot chase along the roof tops of Hong Kong; a low level helicopter flight to get to the nearest hospital; a getaway on a tandem bicycle; another getaway on a modified wheelchair; a drug that results in English fighting with himself; and when his Knighthood is about to be reinstated English beats up QEII thinking she is in fact a Vortex assassin, bur in reality she IS the real Queen.

Does any of this make any sense - ho hum, not really! It is one for the kids raising plenty of laughs, and for the (male) adults the redeeming feature is Gillian Anderson back on the big screen again looking as good as ever! Rosamund Pike and Dominic West also star, but the show is Atkinson's with a firm tongue-in-cheek nod to the spy genre with a dose of pratfalls, slapstick and sarcasm that he does so well.  See it on DVD on a wet afternoon, and save the price of cinema entry!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-