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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Spy spoof caper that’s only passably amusing.
It’s a HILARIOUS concept. It’s Bond but not as we know it: a suave, sophisticated, well-dressed hero but someone who’s a complete klutz when it comes to the spy business. Rowan Atkinson is perfect in the role: because when he plays his face ”straight” he IS strangely good-looking and certainly pulls off the air of confidence, intelligence and sophistication well.
So it was that 2003’s Johnny English was a refreshing novelty. Roll forwards 15 years (via 2011’s “Johnny English Reborn”) and the concoction needs… you know… actual JOKES.
For “Johnny English Strikes Again” is unfortunately a pretty lame affair.
The Plot
Johnny English (Atkinson) is retired from MI7 and living life as a Geography teacher at a public school. Aside from teaching them about sheep farming in Australia and magma, English delights in teaching his young pupils the tricks of the spy trade: “You’re looking particularly beautiful tonight”, with a twinkle and a vodka martini in hand. “You’re looking particularly beautiful tonight” repeats the class.
But the quiet life of English is about to end, since a cyber-attack has exposed all of MI7’s current agents and the Prime Minister (Emma Thompson) needs to re-hire a retired agent who is currently ‘off the grid’. But noone – friend or foe – is safe when the bumbling English and his faithful helper Bough (Ben Miller) go back into the field.
The Turns
As UK comedy professionals, Atkinson and Miller deliver their English/Bough schtick serviceably enough. The brilliant Emma Thompson though is woefully underused as a straight-woman, being asked to do little more than an exasperated Theresa May impersonation.
If you need a sexy and sophisticated femme fatale for a Bond spoof, what better than a real ex-Bond girl? So the extremely sexy and sophisticated Olga Kurylenko (Camille from “Quantum of Solace”) plays Ophelia Bhuletova, which sounds much funnier when pronounced by Atkinson. And a very good job she does too.
The Review
To emphasise the positive for a moment, the film is suitably glossy, which are table stakes for a spy caper like this or Austin Powers.
But the script by William Davies (who did the previous Johnny Englishes, but nothing much since “Reborn”) doesn’t deliver any real laugh-out-loud moments. My hopes were raised when the “pensioner interviews” happened and Charles Dance, Edward Fox and Michael Gambon turned up. Great, I thought… having the old timers play off Atkinson will be fun. But unfortunately they were nothing but cameos and (although one of the film’s comedy highlights) they came and went in the blink of an eye.
Elsewhere the film relied too much on a few running jokes: ostensibly the need for health and safety in MI7, where guns are rather frowned upon, given their potential to caused injury or worse. A ‘virtual reality’ training mission also delivers smiles but outstays its welcome.
The film is a first-time feature for TV-comedy director David Kerr.
Final thoughts
There are films which are wildly offensive. There are films that are just plain bad. This is neither: it is as Douglas Adams might have described it as “Mostly Harmless”. But to get any more than the rating I have given it, a comedy film has to make me laugh and this one failed miserably. It’s a watchable TV film for a rainy afternoon, but not worth heading out to the cinema to watch.
So it was that 2003’s Johnny English was a refreshing novelty. Roll forwards 15 years (via 2011’s “Johnny English Reborn”) and the concoction needs… you know… actual JOKES.
For “Johnny English Strikes Again” is unfortunately a pretty lame affair.
The Plot
Johnny English (Atkinson) is retired from MI7 and living life as a Geography teacher at a public school. Aside from teaching them about sheep farming in Australia and magma, English delights in teaching his young pupils the tricks of the spy trade: “You’re looking particularly beautiful tonight”, with a twinkle and a vodka martini in hand. “You’re looking particularly beautiful tonight” repeats the class.
But the quiet life of English is about to end, since a cyber-attack has exposed all of MI7’s current agents and the Prime Minister (Emma Thompson) needs to re-hire a retired agent who is currently ‘off the grid’. But noone – friend or foe – is safe when the bumbling English and his faithful helper Bough (Ben Miller) go back into the field.
The Turns
As UK comedy professionals, Atkinson and Miller deliver their English/Bough schtick serviceably enough. The brilliant Emma Thompson though is woefully underused as a straight-woman, being asked to do little more than an exasperated Theresa May impersonation.
If you need a sexy and sophisticated femme fatale for a Bond spoof, what better than a real ex-Bond girl? So the extremely sexy and sophisticated Olga Kurylenko (Camille from “Quantum of Solace”) plays Ophelia Bhuletova, which sounds much funnier when pronounced by Atkinson. And a very good job she does too.
The Review
To emphasise the positive for a moment, the film is suitably glossy, which are table stakes for a spy caper like this or Austin Powers.
But the script by William Davies (who did the previous Johnny Englishes, but nothing much since “Reborn”) doesn’t deliver any real laugh-out-loud moments. My hopes were raised when the “pensioner interviews” happened and Charles Dance, Edward Fox and Michael Gambon turned up. Great, I thought… having the old timers play off Atkinson will be fun. But unfortunately they were nothing but cameos and (although one of the film’s comedy highlights) they came and went in the blink of an eye.
Elsewhere the film relied too much on a few running jokes: ostensibly the need for health and safety in MI7, where guns are rather frowned upon, given their potential to caused injury or worse. A ‘virtual reality’ training mission also delivers smiles but outstays its welcome.
The film is a first-time feature for TV-comedy director David Kerr.
Final thoughts
There are films which are wildly offensive. There are films that are just plain bad. This is neither: it is as Douglas Adams might have described it as “Mostly Harmless”. But to get any more than the rating I have given it, a comedy film has to make me laugh and this one failed miserably. It’s a watchable TV film for a rainy afternoon, but not worth heading out to the cinema to watch.
Passage to Passion - The Complete Collection
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The heat level goes through the roof, and the action never stops! ARCTIC EXPOSURE To the rest...
Adult Contemporary Romance Collection
DeathbyGlitter (2 KP) rated Persona 5 in Video Games
Sep 29, 2017
Amazing JRPG that stole my heart!
I love the Shin Megami games, but as a surprise, I have not beaten many of them. They are these epic undertakings that require many hours per play through. This is the first one that I easily put 150+ hours into through 2 play through and got a platinum trophy, where I still long to play more.
The characters are well developed and amazing, I fell in love with everyone, and even loved to hate the villains. I am normally not a fan of mascots but even Morgana won me over throughout the game. The music is epic and memorable, and really sets the tone no matter what is happening.
No gem is perfect, there are mild problems I had with this;
Time management is not a strong suit I have in real life, so maintaining it on a game (even with the help of knowing what others did) felt overwhelming.
In the same vein of saving time I felt rushed to complete dungeons in one day so I could move onto the grinding of skills and confidants.
I'm not saying these ruined the game, but I felt like I wanted to have a little more time in dungeons sometimes as opposed to the social aspects, which, while fun, seemed very heavy at times.
I always feel every game is worth a certain amount of money, the game retails (at release) for $60 and I honestly think it's a fine price. When a game honestly offers a 100+ campaign on the first play through, that less then a dollar an hour and it was worth the whole ride!
The characters are well developed and amazing, I fell in love with everyone, and even loved to hate the villains. I am normally not a fan of mascots but even Morgana won me over throughout the game. The music is epic and memorable, and really sets the tone no matter what is happening.
No gem is perfect, there are mild problems I had with this;
Time management is not a strong suit I have in real life, so maintaining it on a game (even with the help of knowing what others did) felt overwhelming.
In the same vein of saving time I felt rushed to complete dungeons in one day so I could move onto the grinding of skills and confidants.
I'm not saying these ruined the game, but I felt like I wanted to have a little more time in dungeons sometimes as opposed to the social aspects, which, while fun, seemed very heavy at times.
I always feel every game is worth a certain amount of money, the game retails (at release) for $60 and I honestly think it's a fine price. When a game honestly offers a 100+ campaign on the first play through, that less then a dollar an hour and it was worth the whole ride!
Merissa (13590 KP) rated Blood & Thunder (THIRDS #2) in Books
Jun 27, 2017
Blood & Thunder (THIRDS #2) by Charlie Cochet
Blood and Thunder takes place approximately eight months after Hell & High Water. Dex is now firmly entrenched within Destructive Delta and is continuing his relationship with Sloane, although he does want more than what Sloane is prepared to give. He is patient though, and doesn't push things, especially when he knows that Sloane has no more to give right now. On top of this, they are still hunting for Isaac and putting out the numerous fires that he is starting.
What can I say about this? It's been over a month since I read Hell & High Water but I was immediately immersed back into their world. So much going on, and I loved every thrilling, fast-paced moment of it. Not only do we see more of Sloane and Dex, but we get a couple more hints into Calvin and Hobbs, plus Ash and Cael. It's not all plain sailing for Sloane and Dash though, and my heart broke for both of them, although I did still want to wump Sloane upside the head with his 'official reprimand'. There way many, MANY laugh out loud moments, surprisingly enough involving Dex. I honestly don't think I could cope with him in real life, but as a character, he is brilliant!
This was an exceptionally well written addition to the series, deepening and developing all the characters and their relationships with each other. There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and the story itself was compelling reading. Absolutely recommended by me.
* Verified Purchase ~ April 2017 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
What can I say about this? It's been over a month since I read Hell & High Water but I was immediately immersed back into their world. So much going on, and I loved every thrilling, fast-paced moment of it. Not only do we see more of Sloane and Dex, but we get a couple more hints into Calvin and Hobbs, plus Ash and Cael. It's not all plain sailing for Sloane and Dash though, and my heart broke for both of them, although I did still want to wump Sloane upside the head with his 'official reprimand'. There way many, MANY laugh out loud moments, surprisingly enough involving Dex. I honestly don't think I could cope with him in real life, but as a character, he is brilliant!
This was an exceptionally well written addition to the series, deepening and developing all the characters and their relationships with each other. There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and the story itself was compelling reading. Absolutely recommended by me.
* Verified Purchase ~ April 2017 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated War Dogs (2016) in Movies
Jul 20, 2017
Good direction (3 more)
Scorsese influence
Soundtrack
Bradley Cooper
Fresher Than A Hangover
The craziest thing about this story is that it is based on two real life young men that made a fortune online becoming international arms dealers. Going in I expected a film similar to The Hangover, since it too was directed by Todd Phillips and both movies feature Bradley Cooper, however what I got was more of a Scorsese homage and in the best possible way. The story is narrated by Miles Teller’s character David Packouz, who acts as the audience surrogate, (the Henry Hill of this movie,) we are taken on this ride from his perspective and he narrates the whole thing. This alone is a trait borrowed from the great Martin Scorsese, but when the film also features freeze framing and quotes being used to begin chapters it is clear what this film is trying to be, but I admire its blatancy and if there is someone that you should take from when crafting a film, it is Martin Scorsese. Efraim Diveroli is played by Jonah Hill and he is the character that takes us on this rollercoaster journey. His performance here is fantastically intolerable, he is harsh, rude and borderline insane, but much like Joe Pesci’s performance as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas, he is endearing and impossible to take your eyes off of whenever he is onscreen. Bradley Cooper also steals the few scenes that he appears in and overall this movie is proof that Phillips can handle telling a more serious, realistic story and doesn’t have to rely on Zach Galifinakis pretending to have learning difficulties to gain a few laughs.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Water for Elephants in Books
May 10, 2018
So I never thought that I would really fall in love with a book about the circus. I found it very difficult to put this book down, unfortunately I had to so I could take care of my family. I can't imagine would life would be like if I ran away with the circus, that's not something I have ever desired.
Jacob Jankowski loses everything in one day. His family, his home and his education. So he runs away with the circus(for real!). There he meets all kinds of interesting people and learns the ways of the circus. He also meets Marlena, the star of the show. He befriends her and her husband August, who is quite abusive to the animals, the roustabouts, and, at times, to Marlena. Shortly after Jacbo joins the Benzini Brothers Circus, they acquire an elephant, Rosie. Together Rosie and Marlena are bringing in the big money for Benzini Brothers. Of course there are a lot of ups and downs to get to that point.
The story is told through Jacob as an old man in a nursing home, waiting for his family to take him to the circus. He remineces about those days in anticipation for the event.
I want to tell so much more about this book, but I don't want to give it away. Please read this book, it will touch your heart and surprise you.
In the ebook version there is a conversation with the author, and she admits to never have gone to a circus before thinking about writing this book. I found that to be an interesting fact.
Jacob Jankowski loses everything in one day. His family, his home and his education. So he runs away with the circus(for real!). There he meets all kinds of interesting people and learns the ways of the circus. He also meets Marlena, the star of the show. He befriends her and her husband August, who is quite abusive to the animals, the roustabouts, and, at times, to Marlena. Shortly after Jacbo joins the Benzini Brothers Circus, they acquire an elephant, Rosie. Together Rosie and Marlena are bringing in the big money for Benzini Brothers. Of course there are a lot of ups and downs to get to that point.
The story is told through Jacob as an old man in a nursing home, waiting for his family to take him to the circus. He remineces about those days in anticipation for the event.
I want to tell so much more about this book, but I don't want to give it away. Please read this book, it will touch your heart and surprise you.
In the ebook version there is a conversation with the author, and she admits to never have gone to a circus before thinking about writing this book. I found that to be an interesting fact.