Johnny English
It's unavoidable that people will try to judge this film by making comparisons to Atkinson's other characters and all the James Bond spoofs out there. But so great the success of Mr Bean and the BBC TV series Blackadder to name but a few, it was always going to be judged that way.
Johnny English, as commented before, was the character of a series of credit card adverts in the mid-90s. However, to transpose a character that appeared in 30 second sketches into a movie isn't easy, given people already has a perception of him. And that's the real problem of Johnny English.
The start of the film is a little uneasy - we're looking for gags, but they don't come often enough, but that rectifies itself from about half way. But sadly, the originality that we saw in the adverts is lost in most of the movie. Ok, there were moments of brilliance - the car chase scene was original and hilarious - but many of the gags, especially the finale, were simply remakes of those from Naked Gun.
I am biased, though. Rowan Atkinson is one of Britain's funniest comedy actors, and his creations are simply brilliant. His stand-up video is hilarious, Mr Bean has become a worldwide success and his recent parody of the Martin Bashir / Michael Jackson interview for Comic Relief, a charity telethon in the UK, epitomised his comedy genius.
But the script and the plot lets down the whole concept of the film. There simply wasn't enough of a buzz throughout the film to make you feel satisfied when leaving the cinema. I was looking for a little bit of hidden intelligence in the character of Johnny English, but sadly it never appeared and there was just too much slapstick in it.
But in a way, the cast salvaged the movie. Natalie Imbruglia is great in the movie, although I'm slightly surprised that other people are surprised she was so good - in the UK she's more well-known as a singer, but her days in Neighbours as Beth before that did show she can act very well.
Mind you, I can't say the same for John Malkovitch. You'd get a better French accent on a end of a baguette than from him.
Ultimately, though, this is a film that has the laughs, and though there is a slight disappointment that you don't get everything you want, it is a very funny film. One to recommend to Hollywood, in case you think all Brits are like Hugh Grant or Pierce Brosnan...
It's unavoidable that people will try to judge this film by making comparisons to Atkinson's other characters and all the James Bond spoofs out there. But so great the success of Mr Bean and the BBC TV series Blackadder to name but a few, it was always going to be judged that way.
Johnny English, as commented before, was the character of a series of credit card adverts in the mid-90s. However, to transpose a character that appeared in 30 second sketches into a movie isn't easy, given people already has a perception of him. And that's the real problem of Johnny English.
The start of the film is a little uneasy - we're looking for gags, but they don't come often enough, but that rectifies itself from about half way. But sadly, the originality that we saw in the adverts is lost in most of the movie. Ok, there were moments of brilliance - the car chase scene was original and hilarious - but many of the gags, especially the finale, were simply remakes of those from Naked Gun.
I am biased, though. Rowan Atkinson is one of Britain's funniest comedy actors, and his creations are simply brilliant. His stand-up video is hilarious, Mr Bean has become a worldwide success and his recent parody of the Martin Bashir / Michael Jackson interview for Comic Relief, a charity telethon in the UK, epitomised his comedy genius.
But the script and the plot lets down the whole concept of the film. There simply wasn't enough of a buzz throughout the film to make you feel satisfied when leaving the cinema. I was looking for a little bit of hidden intelligence in the character of Johnny English, but sadly it never appeared and there was just too much slapstick in it.
But in a way, the cast salvaged the movie. Natalie Imbruglia is great in the movie, although I'm slightly surprised that other people are surprised she was so good - in the UK she's more well-known as a singer, but her days in Neighbours as Beth before that did show she can act very well.
Mind you, I can't say the same for John Malkovitch. You'd get a better French accent on a end of a baguette than from him.
Ultimately, though, this is a film that has the laughs, and though there is a slight disappointment that you don't get everything you want, it is a very funny film. One to recommend to Hollywood, in case you think all Brits are like Hugh Grant or Pierce Brosnan...