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Johnny English Strikes Again
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Emma Thompson, Olga Kurylenko, Jake Lacy, Miranda Hennessy, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Adam James, Michael Gambon, Charles Dance
Director: David Kerr
Atkinson's third outing as the idiotic, accident-prone secret agent who first appeared in 2003 and returned in 2011's Johnny English Reborn.
Here we find the witless 'hero' reduced to being a teacher who, early on during an outside excursion with his pupils, falls down a hole, thus efficiently establishing the level of sophistication contained in William Davies' increasingly silly screenplay.
Fortunately for the future of British education, a massive cyber-attack exposes the identities of all the country's secret agents, leaving Prime Minister Thompson forced to call on Atkinson to track down the villain and save the country, if not the film.
Cue a sad slew of overdone, increasingly unfunny slapstick which finds Our Hero setting fire to the restaurant while posing as a waiter whose attempts to shell a lobster for a diner would, in real life, have brought on a justifiable onslaught by RSPCA agents; and generally overplaying Mr Bean.
Youngsters who to like watch adults make arses of themselves (think Laurel and Hardy but without a trace of their appeal or comic genius) might enjoy themselves. Accompanying adults would be best advised to take sleeping pills.
Alan Frank
USA 2018. UK Distributor: Universal. Colour by Panalux.
85 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: PG.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.
Review date: 13 Feb 2019