Johnny English (2003)

Something compelled me to rewatch Rowan Atkinson's 2003 comedy Johnny English last week, I'm not sure what it was, a desire for something light and familiar perhaps. It's not quite as good as I remember, it doesn't really hold together as the sum of it's parts, but it's not the worst movie ever. Atkinson is reliably hilarious, with physical comedy, perfect timing and utter buffoonery. 

Johnny English is the best/only agent MI7 has after all the others are blown up and it's up to him to foil a ludicrous plot by John Malkovich's over the top French villain to become King of England. As if that would come with much power! English is ably assisted by the much more competent Bough (Ben Miller, in a role that is wasted but priceless whenever he appears) and the mysterious Lorna Campbell, another agent, from Interpol, who has been tracking Sauvage and his plot. She happens to be played by Natalie Imbruglia, and though she's perfectly competent, the role is underwritten and for a Bond girl parody has a distressingly ordinary name, completely pun free. 

The plot is nonsensical tosh, yet Atkinson holds everything together with a great comic performance that is only hampered by a lackluster script and jokes that are too easily signposted. The best action sequence involves a car chase with the bad guys in a hearse and Johnny in a car dangling from a recovery vehicle, with the film's best gag - English is photographed by a speed camera, so he uses the rocket-equipped car to blow it up. Still, watching Johnny English has whetted my appetite for the oddly-timed sequel that is out later in the year, featuring Gillian Anderson!