REVIEW: Johnny English Reborn

Returning eight years after the first film, Johnny English Reborn sees English (Rowan Atkinson) returning to Britain after years in a Chinese Monastery, re-building his life after an "incident" in Mozambique, where the President was assassinated. His mission is now to stop a similar fate happening to the Chinese Premier, whilst trying to track down the three members of terrorist group Vortex, who are linked to it.

I loved the first Johnny English film, filmed with slapstick, funny lines and Rowan's ability to really bring a comedy film to life. It's a film that wasn't, maybe, as overall funny as spy spoof Austin Powers, but I have fond memories of it and re-watching it last week cerments it in my mind as a great comedy film with so many laugh-out-loud moments.

Though, to me, not as funny as the first film - though my parents who I saw the film with disagree - it's not the shameless cash-in it could have been, with a script that sees the titular character not as idiotic as he was in the first film, more Mr Bond than Mr Bean. That doesn't mean there aren't still the stupid, slapstick bits in it you'd expect, but the character himself is less stupid this time round.

Disappointingly, the trailer for the film did, as trailers do, spoil a lot of sections for me but there was still a lot to enjoy, and this time round the plot was much more twisty-turny and complex than the first film, feeling more like a movie rather than a series of sketches, even if I did work out who the mole is in MI7 from the back of their head, but it's not the point of this sort of film to make that a surprise.

There are a lot of stand-out moments in the film. My particular favourite involves the helicopter and navigational issues, but the running cleaner joke that punctuates throughout the film works really well, and there are scenes in it that stand up to the tow-truck chase in the first film.

Atkinson is once more on top form with his verbal and slapstick work, but credit also goes to Daniel Kaluuya as sidekick Tucker, who plays foil to Atkinson very well and the plot jokes of his age and living arrangements being some of the many laughs through the film, offering an alternative partnership to that of Ben Miller in the first film, who I would have liked to have seen cameoing in the film. But, if Twitter is to be believed, this cameo may have ended up on the cutting room floor so here's hoping for a director's cut on DVD and blu-ray!

Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike and Dominic West all play interesting, if maybe slightly underwritten characters, but Tim McInnerny, reunited with Atkinson from the Blackadder days, plays an excellent Q-type character, whose gadgets leading to a very funny conclusion to the film.

Overall, it's a film with lots of laughs and hilarious set pieces and, whilst maybe not quite up to the first film, is definitely worth a watch and one of my film highlights of the year. Make sure you stay around for the end of the credits for a funny extra scene that will bring a smile to fans of Morecambe and Wise.

[7/10]