David McK (3425 KP) rated Johnny English (2003) in Movies
Nov 5, 2020
You've more or less got Johnny English.
Also starring Natalie Imbruglia and John Malkovich, the plot of this takes in stolen Crown Jewels, Johnny's attempts to regain them, and a coronation.
The Three Musketeers
Alexandre Dumas, Bill Homewood, Bruch and F. Raf
6.0
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Just arrived in Paris and looking for adventure, D'Artagnan finds more than he bargains for. Within...
David McK (3425 KP) rated Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) in Movies
Dec 14, 2019 (Updated Nov 20, 2020)
This time, he is pulled out of retirement after a cyber attack reveals the identities of all of England's active spies, with Johnny (and his sidekick Bough, again played by Ben Miller) thus a 'low tech' solution to a high tech problem.
Rowan Atkinson does his usual rubber-faced buffoonery throughout, with a bit of glamour provided by Olga Kurylenka in a film that, while inoffensive enough, never really seems to 'catch fire'.
Elizabethan Espionage: Plotters and Spies in the Struggle Between Catholicism and the Crown
Book
In the wake of the 1588 destruction of the Spanish Armada, English Catholics launched an ingenious...
The Scarlet Code
10.0
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1789. The Bastille has fallen... As Parisians pick souvenirs from the rubble, a killer stalks the...
Historical fiction The French Revolution Action packed France English spies
ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Scarlet Code in Books
Aug 23, 2020
I’m really enjoying following Attica Morgan’s exploits (see what I did there? That’s not even a hint that I want more, that’s a “let there be more!”). Attica’s love of Paris, even at this really uncertain time between the fall of the Bastille and the actual start of the Revolution, is so well described that I felt that I could be there. I love a book where I can learn something. I’d always thought that the people released the prisoners from the Bastille (or in fact they didn’t, because it was virtually empty - or so I’ve been told), and then BAM! Voila la Révolution française! Well, by the sounds of it there was a bit of a tense hiatus between one thing and the next (we won’t discuss the fact that I was a French teacher in a former life - sshh!).
Anyway, if you enjoy a well written, historical romp, with an opinionated, strong female lead character - then this is the book for you! I can’t wait for the next one (not even hinting)!!
Many thanks to Readers First for sending me a copy of this book.
French Concession
5.0
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An acclaimed Chinese writer makes his English-language debut with this heart-stopping literary noir,...
A Legacy of Murder
8.0
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American antique dealer Kate Hamilton's Christmastime jaunt to a charming English village leads to...
Rommel's Spy: Operation Condor and the Desert War
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In 1942, John Eppler was one of two German spies inserted behind British lines in Egypt after an...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
The movie starts with Johnny English as a geography teacher at a private school in the heart of England. What makes this a light-hearted and perfect entrance to the movie is that instead of teaching geography lessons, he’s teaching the kids how to become spies. Not only does this result in some very chuckle worthy scenes but it also shows us that Johnny still yearns to be back in the field even though he’s an exceptional teacher to the young spies-in-training. As fate would have it, a hacker has released the identities of all MI-7 agents around the world, so the only hope that England has is to call back retired agents. Reluctantly, Johnny is given the job and of course the hijinks start before he even heads out on his mission. In a very cute and refreshing twist on the usual high-tech spy movies, Johnny prefers his spy gear old school, so he turns down the smart phone and hybrid vehicle and instead requests a gun and picks out an old gas-guzzling Aston Martin V8. It was a very clever way to show that his mission wasn’t going to be anything like how Ethan Hunt would handle things.
This leads us to the plot of the movie. Johnny’s mission, with the help of his faithful sidekick Bough (Ben Miller), is to track down the signal where the hacker has been carrying out his attacks and thwart them before the G12 summit takes place. His first stop is to the south of France, where he encounters an alluring Russian spy named Ophelia (Olga Kurylenko) who is clearly working against him. What follows is a slapstick tale of numerous follies as the unlikely trio dance, drive, and crash their way to saving the world.
As you might expect Johnny English forgoes the crudeness and lewd jokes that are popular in comedic films these days and brings back a much more wholesome family friendly comedy. There is no cursing to speak of, no real violence, and except for the last scene it barely rates in the PG category at all. It harkens back to the late 80’s and early 90’s with similar spoof movies like The Naked Gun, where silly dialog and accident-prone heroes are what leads to the laughter. It’s a film that certainly does not take itself seriously and expects the same from the viewing audience. Some of the humor in the movie may elicit a groan from being that bad…but it’s usually so bad that it becomes funny. I found myself laughing a lot more than I expected to and I wasn’t the only one in the theater laughing.
To truly enjoy Johnny English, you have to know what to expect going into it. I can’t imagine there will be many (particularly those who have seen the previous films) that will have particularly high expectations, and that’s where it shines. It may not win any comedy film awards or be the best movie you’ve ever seen but you’ll go away happy. If you enjoyed the previous films, you will certainly enjoy this film as it’s not a huge diversion from the formula and provides the same sort of silly gags throughout. It certainly won’t appeal to everyone and that’s okay, but if you think you might enjoy it even a little, it’s definitely worth a look.