Johnny English Strikes Again

Johnny English Strikes Again – When a cyber attack reveals the identities of British secret agents, Johnny English, now a Geography teacher, is brought back into the fray. When a lead takes him to a yacht, English meets the mysterious Ophelia who he believes to be involved somehow. Meanwhile the Prime Minister is utterly bewitched by American innovator, Jason Volta, and gives him access to the country’s security systems, so Johnny must act quickly and trust his instincts before its too late.

Johnny English Strikes Again (2018) – Director: David Kerr

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57785095

Rating: PG

Running Length: 88 mins

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Ben Miller, Olga Kurylenko

Genre: Action, Comedy

REVIEW: ‘JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN’

Many people will be asking the question, ‘Is there any need for another Johnny English movie’? and the answer is, frankly, no! Johnny English has always played fast and loose with the term ‘comedy’, relying on silly gags and slapstick humour which certainly isn’t to everyone’s tastes. However, for those who enjoy this kind of daftness, ‘Johnny English Strikes Again’ does what it has always does best and doesn’t disappoint.

Rowan Atkinson’s English is just as incompetent, accident-prone and oblivious as ever and now that he has been out of the espionage business for a few years, lags behind when it comes to technology and social awareness. His reliance on old style gadgets and refusal to accept what’s new shows him up as a relic from the past but his tenacity sees him through and ever-loyal Bough (Ben Miller) is always there to give him the odd nudge in the right direction. Kurylenko’s Ophelia is both beautiful and capable, the two essential elements for a spoof spy heroine but sadly she doesn’t have a great deal of depth once the (predictable) mystery of who she is revealed.

Let’s face it, ‘Johnny English Strikes Again’ isn’t high art but it is good fun, especially for younger members of the audience and any adults that are watching are bound to have a good few laughs along the way.

CONTENT: IS ‘JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

A moderate curse word is uttered under a character’s breath in the first few seconds of the movie.

Johnny is a teacher to a class of children and secretly teaches them the art of espionage. The children are seen to ride a zip line from a second floor window and there is reference to one of them having a ‘garrotting watch’.

Four retired agents sit talking in a room and discuss the gadgets they used to use, including a pen with a detonator in the lid which will go off if it isn’t replaced within a few seconds. One of the character’s shows the group his own and uses it to sign a document. He passes the pen to Johnny English who struggles to take the lid off, when he finally does, it flies out reach and he is unable to replace the lid in time so he ends up throwing it into the room with the other men and closing the door. When he looks back in, the men are lying lifeless in their chairs. The dialogue has previously stated that the detonator is like a stun grenade, however it isn’t made clear whether the men are alive and they aren’t mentioned again so kids may feel that these men have been killed due to Johnny’s actions.

As a female spy, it is unsurprising that Ophelia often wears revealing outfits, these are usually short dresses which are very low cut so that a lot of cleavage is shown.

Johnny is given a Virtual Reality headset to help with his mission and he ends up walking around London and attacking innocent people, believing them to be the villains in the VR simulation. He hits one man with a book and another with an umbrella, acting like he is shooting him with a machine gun. An old woman sits in a wheelchair near a door and Johnny kicks her outside, near a busy road and he throws a man from the top deck of a bus. While this scene is comedic, Johnny doesn’t face any consequences to his actions (despite all of it being his fault).

Johnny takes some pills which make him hyperactive, he mainly just dances until the early hours. Although these pills are part of his espionage kit, they make the taker behave as though they have taken recreational drugs.

Johnny finds himself stuck in a full suit of armour and struggles with a buckle in order to remove it. Typically, when a lot of people are looking at him, he manages to undo the buckle, causing the bottom half of the armour to drop down. The camera is angled below and from the back so much of his bare bottom is shown in close-up.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN’ FOR KIDS?

‘Johnny English Strikes Again’ may be an unnecessary second sequel but still plenty of laughs to be had out of this ‘aint broke formula. Due to a fair amount of mild bad language and some comedic but dangerous actions that could be imitable, we recommend this movie for kids aged 7 and over.

• Violence: 2/5 (mostly slapstick in nature and never graphic but some may be imitable)
• Emotional Distress: 0/5
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (some revealing clothing and nudity)
• Bad Language: 3/5 (some mild and moderate cursing throughout)
• Dialogue: 2/5 (there are a couple of mentions of a ‘garrotting watch’ and a character attempts to use one to kill someone)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of espionage, new versus old technology, a threat to national security, the dangers of technology in the hands of unscrupulous people, determination, patriotism, knowing who to trust and loyalty.

Words by Laura Record

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