Johnny English Reborn

When it comes to movie sequels that nobody asked for, Johnny English Reborn is definitely up there. After all, the original wasn't a huge hit, plus it came out almost a decade ago, so chances are nobody was holding their breath. Yet Rowan Atkinson decided to dust off his inept spy for another clumsy adventure. Johnny English Reborn isn't a great deal different from its predecessor, although it does manage to assemble a decent cast. Atkinson is joined by Gillian Anderson, Dominic West (from The Wire) and Rosamund Pike (seen recently in Barney's Version), all of whom appear to be having a good time ― there's no shortage of enthusiasm. There's a story, of sorts, where disgraced agent Johnny English is lured back to MI7 to help stop a gang of assassins from killing a bunch of people. Naturally, it doesn't go swimmingly ― there are the expected setbacks as English stumbles through set piece after set piece before suddenly becoming competent enough to save the day. The problem is that the tone is a little uneven. For the most part, it tries to be a more sophisticated spoof, with some subtle jokes that actually work rather well. But when Atkinson reverts to his Mr. Bean-like shenanigans and focuses purely on physical comedy, the humour is obvious and fails more often than it succeeds. The film can't decide if it wants to be The Naked Gun or The President's Analyst and fails to deliver enough laughs for a comedy, plus the plot is terribly predictable. Johnny English Reborn is good for a few giggles, but little else. The Blu-Ray has some strong extras that almost warrant a second viewing. The commentary with the writer and director (but no Rowan) walks the line between informative and humour rather well, although the alleged gag reel offers no laughs at all. The 40 minutes of deleted scenes suggest that nothing good was taken out of the film and a handful of featurettes round out an extra disc that's better than it needed to be.