Johnny English

[dh1989]

"Johnny English"

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Plot: "When all but one of MI5's top agents are killed in an explosion. It is left to the inept Johnny English (Atkinson) to try and solve who has stolen the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Accompanied by his assistant Bough (Miller), Johnny bungles his way through one dangerous situation after another."

Directed By: Peter Howitt (Sliding Doors).

Written By: Neal Purvis (The World Is Not Enough), Robert Wade (Let Him Have It), and William Davies (Twins).

Starring: Rowan Atkinson (Rat Race), Natalie Imbruglia (Famous Singer), Ben Miller (Birthday Girl), John Malkovich (Con Air), and Tim Pigott-Smith (The Remains Of The Day).

MPAA Rating: "PG" for comic nudity, some crude humor and language.

Running Time: 88 minutes.

Thoughts: I am unsure about this one. Some moments of the trailer are sort of amusing, but others are quite awful. Nothing is really drawing me to it, but it COULD be kind of amusing. I'll wait for HBO, and maybe it'll suprise me.

A Universal Pictures Relase.

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Click here (http://us.imdb.com/Trailers?0274166) for the trailer!

[ilovemovies]

eh. I'll see it but although it looks amusingly enough it doesn't look like anything special. Of the three major releases opening July 18 this one looks like the least interesting to me.

[Mike]

I think it looks OK. I think it should perform like The Master Of Disguise at the Box Office, although a little better. This one definitely looks better and less annoying than that one. And it doesn't have any line in the previews that make me want to rip my ears of like M of D did ("turtle turtle" anyone?).

It really doesn't look like a bad movie. It just doesn't look all that funny either. It looks kind of amusing, but more like light fluff than anything. I wouldn't see it in theaters, but I think I might rent it on video. It should appeal to family audiences of all ages though. It's not just for kids. It's something both can enjoy.

[DevilMonkey]

I saw it lastnight, at a special screening. It was okay, 6/10, but they filmed sopme footage of me and my three friends after the movie to put in a commercial (unbless they edit me out). So lolok for me.. I'm wearing a red shirt that says vintage used wear!

[The Other]

I'm glad Mike and dh waited until after midnight to open their threads *coughporcheracercough*.

People keep pushing it by trying to open threads earlier and earlier like it's a race so you can be the one to post it. And besides, who cares who opens them?

[Strider]

"Johnny English" doesn't look that great, but it could be a good time at the movies. I'll be seeing the flick, mostly because of Rowan Atkinson... he's a very good comedic actor. He was great as Mr. Bean.

Strider

[Horror whore]

It looks stupid and unfunny.

It's the James Bond for the Master of Disguise crowd, not a good thing.

I'll pass.

[Ron34]

It looked pretty funny

[movies35]

I don't think I'll ever see this. I think it looks horrible. I saw Master Of Desguise 2/10 or D- and I think if I did see this, it could be one of the worse of the year.

TOP 2 WORSE...

1.) Dumb and Dumberer 1/10 or F
2.) Basic 2/10 or D-

[Frank the Tank]

It looks pretty decent better than some of the other crap out there

[XCoRyX]

im going to be honest...i think this looks damn funny...and have intentions of seeing it.

[RickySlade]

Bean was a hilarious flick, and a hilarious series. So, I'll be checking this one out. Plus, why is the scariest actor alive in this...John Malkovich?!

[Lynn Minmei]

What the fuck does Comic Nudity mean?

[dh1989]

Originally posted by Lynn Minmei
What the fuck does Comic Nudity mean?

Nudity in a comedic sequence.

Example: In the opening sequence of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where different objects are used to cover up Mike Myer's johnson.

[bondish]

Ok, this movie came out in New Zealand in April and I was unlucky enough to see it. This is one to definitely avoid. If you want a laugh, download the trailer. All the funny jokes are in the trailer, the funniest being when Natalie Imbruglia flies out of the car. I had laughed enough in the trailer that I ddin't find it funny at all in the cinema. This movie is worse than Bean, I thought it was going to be alright, but I was wrong. I strongly advise you skip it. One of the worst movies of the year. 2/10 or 3/10

[J.Estacado]

I luved it,if u like Rowan Atkinson i can't see u not liking it but then again obviously there are peeps out there who did not enjoy.But myself i watched & there was rarely a moment i wasn't luffing as were the rest of the people in the theatre so i dunno wzup widat?

[blankpage]

I've wasted my money on worse, so I'll see it.

[Sigur509]

I loved Mr Bean, and british comedys, looks good.

[Lynn Minmei]

Hey, at least it's not a teenybopper angsty drama. It shouldn't be too bad...

[XCoRyX]

if i had the money i would check this out....but i dont,simple enough...

[Jerk Shapiro]

Looks like a good movie to hook up with a lady friend and see. Hey, maybe I'll do that.

[ColinM]

I'm not a big Mr. Bean fan, nor am I a big fan of these kind of comedies,but there are a few points in the commercials were I chuckled. I might waitto rent it, but it doesn't look good enough for me to go see it in theaters.

[TheJadedGamer]

I'll be seeing it, in fact, I plan on going tommarow.

[darkface]

My favorite part from the 'mercials was the part when he catches his tie on the convyer belt at the resturaunt, and he keeps telling people "It's okay! I'm a secret agent." LMAO, what the hell does that matter. I laughed at that for a while. WHO would give a damn, O' he's a secret agent, it's okay for him to catch his tie, and walk on our food. Sorry, i just had to mention that. Anyone else catch that?

[dh1989]

Here is a positive review of Johnny English....

The Los Angeles Times:

If looks could actually kill, Rowan Atkinson's face would have to be licensed as a deadly weapon. Which would be fortunate for the character he plays, a British secret agent who is not awfully good with more conventional instruments of espionage.

A comic actor of genius who raises silliness to an art form, the wonderfully expressive Atkinson makes excellent use of those devastating looks in the spy spoof "Johnny English," where he turns up as a James Bond type more likely to kill adversaries by accident than on purpose.

Based on a clumsy spy who delighted the British in a long-running series of credit card commercials, English is not exactly the sharpest tool at Her Majesty's disposal. If there is a way to look foolish, this man will find it. Not for nothing does the ad line claim, "He knows no fear. He knows no danger. He knows nothing."

There have been Bond spoofs before, from Jackie Chan's dismal "Tuxedo" to a National Lampoon parody novelette called "Alligator," where villain Lacertus Alligator, the head of TOOTH (The Organization Organized to Hate), is described as having "teeth of steel, a head the size of a football, a crazed mind, and the destiny of England in his hands."

What "Johnny Eng-lish" has all to itself is Atkinson. The film, bathroom humor and all, was spe-cially crafted as a vehicle for a per-former who is a major star not only in his native Britain but around the world. Taking its time getting to this country, "English" has already opened as the highest-grossing film in numerous countries, accumulating more than $100 million in the process.

Atkinson came to be noticed over here for his work in the wickedly funny U.K. series "Black Adder" and for a hilarious cameo as the befuddled vicar in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Even the successful "Bean," though too silly for most adults, showed him to be a comedian with almost preternatural control over his physical and facial movements. Anything he does here, from vigorously brushing his teeth to getting his tie stuck in a sushi bar conveyor belt, is going to be funny.

Directed by Peter Howitt ("Sliding Doors") and scripted by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade (who've written Bond movies "The World Is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day") and William Davies, "English" introduces its protagonist in a noticeably non-heroic mode.

Despite some quite vivid daydreams, English is a paper-pusher, the desk-bound junior agent in charge of procuring documents for the dashing folks who do the heavy lifting out in the field, someone who couldn't be suave if his life depended on it. And, suddenly, it does.

For the unexpected deaths of all of Britain's espionage professionals turns English into Agent One, abruptly thrust into the maelstrom of a dastardly plot to steal the crown jewels and destabilize the nation.

English is aided in his quest to be of service by his loyal assistant Bough (Ben Miller), appropriately confused by mystery woman Lorna Campbell (Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia) and completely flummoxed by the sinister Pascal Sauvage. Played by John Malkovich with a delightfully ridiculous French accent, Sauvage has built an empire out of privatized prisons and a conviction that "the word 'mistake' is not one that appears in my dictionary."

English, too, is not without his resources. He is a master of both a system of Bedouin sonic chanting and the techniques of the throat warblers of the Guatemala delta. At least that's what he says, though dropping bullets and having guns fall apart in his hands appear to be more his speed.

As for Atkinson's resources, what can you say about his mock steely looks, his fake suavity, his manufactured savoir-faire. He not only reminds you, as many of the great physical comedians do, of an enormous infant, he has the ability to make you feel like a child again as well. When one of the bad guys says, unexpected regret in his voice, "You know, Mr. English, I am going to miss you," he speaks for England, and the world.

Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Johnny English is the best reviewed film of the weekend, but still has more negative reviews, than positive, with 59% of the reviews being negative. :(

[AgentSmith]

JOHNNY ENGLISH / *1/2 (PG)

July 18, 2003

Johnny English: Rowan Atkinson
Pascal Sauvage: John Malkovich
Lorna Campbell: Natalie Imbruglia
Bough: Ben Miller
Carlos Vendetta: Douglas McFerran
Pegasus: Tim Pigott-Smith
Prime Minister: Kevin McNally

Universal Pictures and StudioCanal present a film directed by Peter Howitt. Written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and William Davies. Running time: 87 minutes. Rated PG (for comic nudity, some crude humor and language).

BY ROGER EBERT

Can we all pretty much agree that the spy genre has been spoofed to death? The James Bond movies have supplied the target for more than 40 years, and generations of Bond parodies have come and gone, from Dean Martin's Matt Helm to Mike Myers' Austin Powers. If "Austin Powers" is the funniest of the Bondian parodies, "Johnny English" is the least necessary, a mild-mannered ramble down familiar paths.

The movie stars Rowan Atkinson, best known in America as Mr. Bean, star of "Bean" (1997), and as the star of the PBS reruns of "The Black Adder," where he played countless medieval schemers and bumblers in "the most gripping sitcom since 1380." He's the master of looking thoughtful after having committed a grievous breach of manners, logic, the law, personal hygiene or common sense.

In "Johnny English," he plays a character who became famous in Britain as the star of a long-running series of credit card commercials. Johnny English is a low-level functionary in the British Secret Service, pressed into active duty when a bomb destroys all of the other agents. His assignment: Foil a plot to steal the Crown Jewels.

The evil mastermind is Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich), a French billionaire who believes his family was robbed of the crown two centuries ago. Now the head of a megabillion-dollar international chain of prisons, he poses as a benefactor who pays to protect the jewels in new theft-proof quarters in the Tower of London--but actually plans to steal them and co-opt the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him king. And how does Queen Elizabeth II feel about this? The film's funniest moment has her signing an abdication form after a gun is pointed at the head of one of her beloved corgis.

The movie is a series of scenes demonstrating how dangerously incompetent Johnny English is, as when he lectures on how the thieves got into the Tower without noticing he is standing on the edge of a tunnel opening. He can't even be trusted to drive during a chase scene, and spends most of one in a car suspended from a moving wreckers' crane. Meanwhile, the beautiful Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia) turns up coincidentally wherever he goes, performing a variety of functions, of which the only explicable one is to be the beautiful Lorna Campbell.

Malkovich does what can be done with Pascal Sauvage, I suppose, including the French accent we assume is deliberately bad, since Malkovich lives in France and no doubt has a better one. The character is such a stick and a stooge, however, that all Malkovich can do is stand there and be mugged by the script. Funnier work is done by Ben Miller, as Johnny's sidekick Bough (pronounced "Boff"). After Johnny breaks up the wrong funeral, Bough saves the day by passing him off as an escaped lunatic.

And so on. Rowan Atkinson is terrifically popular in Britain, less so here, because as a nation we do not find understatement hilarious. "Johnny English" plays like a tired exercise, a spy spoof with no burning desire to be that, or anything else. The thing you have to credit Mike Myers for is that he loves to play Austin Powers and is willing to try anything for a laugh. Atkinson seems to have had Johnny English imposed upon him. And thus upon us.

[Mike]

Originally posted by dh1989
Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Johnny English is the best reviewed film of the year, but still has more negative reviews, than positive, with 59% of the reviews being negative. :(

Umm, do you mean weekend? :confused: I think there's been better reviewed movies this year ;).

[dh1989]

Originally posted by Mike
Umm, do you mean weekend? :confused: I think there's been better reviewed movies this year ;).

Oh shit. Sorry everyone! ;)

Editing in 3.....2.....1....

[Mike]

Originally posted by dh1989
Oh shit. Sorry everyone! ;)

Editing in 3.....2.....1....

That's quite alright. It happens...

[Ed]

This film made tons of money in the UK. But i don't expect it to do that well in US 'cause Atkinson isn't that big of an actor over here. And the TV spots are horrible.

[MsMoviefan]

liked it. laughed a lot.I like John Malkovich, too, but for some reason his using French accent was so annoying to me. That's my problem tho. nice mental health break. lotsa laughs. Yes, it had an actual plot too.

[vastlynne]

Originally posted by Lynn Minmei
Hey, at least it's not a teenybopper angsty drama. It shouldn't be too bad...

You got that right...but then again, we don't need another spy movie spoof. Will the summer movie season never end?? :mad:

[MsMoviefan]

Originally posted by vastlynne
You got that right...but then again, we don't need another spy movie spoof. Will the summer movie season never end?? :mad:
Johnny English dosen't "spoof" real films that have been made. It is a spoof of the genre itself, on the order of James Bond in a very limited way. It has a real plot, and besides myself, the entire audience was laughing out loud. But, I went, knowing I like Atkinson, and that may be the same reason the others went as well. IT is funny.
Egbert gave it thumb down ( a good reason for me to take a look at it!)because of the same reason-"don't need another etc etc etc- maybe not, but dosen't stop me from going to a good movie. So, here's another opinion- and I realize that is all it is.

[Strider]

Johnny English (2003)

Rated PG for Comic Nudity, Some Crude Humor and Language

Director: Peter Howitt

Starring Rowan Atkinson, Natalie Imbruglia, Oliver Ford Davies, Ben Miller, Kevin McNally, Tim Pigott-Smith, and John Malkovich.

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Synopsis: "When all but one of Britain's top secret agents are killed in an explosion. It is left to the inept Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) to try and solve who has stolen the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Accompanied by his assistant, Bough (Ben Miller), Johnny foolishly makes his way through one scrape after another".

When you think of parodies based on the famous James Bond franchise, the "Austin Powers" films are the ones that immediately come to mind. Just one year after "Austin Powers in Goldmember", there is a new secret agent spoof being released into theaters. The film goes by the name of "Johnny English", a comedy directly from the UK. While it's much more "family-oriented" and less crude than the "Austin Powers" films, "Johnny English" still delivers some great laughs and an overall decent time at the movies.

Rowan Atkinson is the comedic actor who plays the title character. You should recognize his name from the hit UK television show, "Mr. Bean". Atkinson was the only reason I bought myself a ticket for "Johnny English". I think he's a very talented and funny actor. I've been waiting for him to find the right comic vehicle to launch himself into some kind of moderate popularity with the mainstream audience. Sadly, "Johnny English" is not the proper vehicle. Atkinson does deliver a solid performance as this clumsy and beyond idiotic secret agent, as well as several great moments of sheer laughter. However, this film does not allow him to show how good of a comedian he really is. But I'm very happy Atkinson's in this film though, since he's what makes the film work. Without him, this film would be absolutely unbearable.

Other than Atkinson, there's the beautiful singer Natalie Imbruglia making her acting debut. She wasn't too shabby, and she actually does display some kind of promise as a full-time actress. Also, there's John Malkovich as one very weird French villain who wants to take control of England. The so-called French accent Malkovich bears is just dreadful, but it does bring out a few chuckles. I don't know what the scriptwriters meant by his character, but I suppose it's a joke on the French perhaps.

There's only one crude scene to be found in "Johnny English", but trust me, it's just about as crude and disgusting as anything in the "Austin Powers" films. This isn't necessarily a problem, but the film makes it a problem when it carries on the joke for far too long. The joke is repeated three times, this is most definitely one, two, or perhaps even three times too many. I suppose the scene was added with the children in mind, since that's the kind of humor they all enjoy at their young ages. It'll be a different story with the parents and older audience though, for they will likely be groaning and cringing in their seats.

"Johnny English" is not as good, entertaining, or sharp-witted as the "Austin Powers" films, but I do believe Rowan Atkinson shows here that he could be a popular and well-know comedian one day. This is one of those comedies that you forget once you walk out of the theater, but through-out it's short 88-minute running length, "Johnny English" is a decent watch.

Running Time: 1 hour 28 minutes

Grade: 6/10 or *** out of ***** star

Strider