Rating: Summary: One of the funniest movies ever Review: This is one of the funniest movies ever. I just could not stop laughing throughout the movie. Rowan Atkinson has done it again. Cant wait for the DVD. Highly recommended for everyone who loves British humour.
Rating: Summary: Not very funny... Review: Austin Powers might have been annoying, but this is just plain awful. Not only are there no hard laughs or guffaws, there are no decent laughs period. This is simply a tedius movie with very few chuckles. When the two funniest scenes in the movie involve sight gags with Mr. Rowan Atkinson and his gun (accidentally dropping the clip out of his gun and the chamber sliding off his weapon) you know you are buckled into an unfunny ride. The fault does not lie at the feet of Mr. Rowan, who does a good job with the material. He's like a modern Peter Sellars. I wish he was the top choice for future Pink Panther movies instead of Steve Martin. Neither does the fault lie with the script. Obviously, satirizing this genre has been done to death, but often it can still be funny. Call it old reliable. I'm placing the blame here on bad editing--that is, this film has no sense of comedic timing. It should have been required that the editors of this movie watch the early Pink Pather films, Casino Royale, and the pre-90's Zucker-Zucker-Abrams movies. Comedy like this is not genius, it is predictable. It is the execution of the gag which is funny, and unfortunately, the editors of this film thought they were editing a romantic comedy. Austin Powers succeeded because it was a spoof that spoofed even it's own comedy genre, and because it had good direction and good editing. They went into it thinking they had a unique spoof. Johnny English fails because it is routine and it didn't even have the guts to go balls-out comedy because it was relying on the premise to carry the whole movie. Because the editing was more appropriate for a John Hughes movie. Because James Bond himself does a better job of satirizing the genre. Save your rental money on this one. Rent the first three Pink Panthers instead. Or, just rent some non-Sean Connery James Bond flicks. They are a better laugh.
Rating: Summary: Mr. Bean as a secret agent... need I say more? Review: Agent Johny English is prepared, brave, and confident, and his strategic planning is not all that bad... I just don't know why disasters keep following him. Bad luck, I guess. But he succeeds after all, saving the British crown, winning the heart of his beautiful partner - and giving you some good laughs in the process.I think the fans of Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean will not be disappointed. Although he plays a very different (and talking) character in this movie, I still spotted some classical "Beanish" behavior - like messing up and trying to cover it up rather then confess. This makes the character pleasantly recognizable, and you somewhat know what to expect from him, in a good way. I give the movie 4 stars, withholding one for some potty humor (sorry, just don't like it).
Rating: Summary: Johnny English is NOT a spoof! Review: I'm getting very tired of great movies being marketed incorrectly. Super Troopers is another great example of the idiocy of movie promoters. Johnny English is a great spy movie. It's got everything including a very sympathetic hero. Rowan Atkinson is NOT Mr. Bean or Blackadder. He is an actor and a darn good one as this movie very ably proves. The movie is not over the top spoof like Austin Powers nor is it a serious spy movie like James Bond. It's just a spy movie with a great plot, an evil bad guy, some pretty cool action scenes, some great comic moments, and a flawed hero. The bad reviews and negative comments must be from people who were expecting an entirely different sort of movie. Watch with an open mind because I very highly recommend this movie to everyone, young and old, who likes an action movie with some laughs. I hope that producers take note of its success and give us more Johnny English in the future!
Rating: Summary: Just silly fun Review: I took my kids, ages 12, 10, and 8, and got my money's worth just watching them laugh hysterically. It is a very cute movie and innocent (potty jokes aside)--won't have to mute or fast forward this one to watch it with the kids like so many other movies. Rowan Atkinson's slapstick is a real pleasure, and I swear the man's face is made of rubber! I appreciate something I can show to my 8 year old and my 75 year old mom at the same time--and so completely enjoy it myself!
Rating: Summary: Funny Bond spoof will really appeals to Atkinson fans & kids Review: Rowan Atkinson tries to start his own Hollywood franchise with this reasonably funny spoof of the Bond movies which coincidentally (methinks not) is written by Neil Purvis & Robert Wade who wrote the 007 movies THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH & DIE ANOTHER DAY (& who according to IMDB will write Bond 21- due for release 2005). The World appears to be geared towards imminent disaster. French businessman, billionaire, supervillain & megalomaniac Pascal Savage (the always excellent John Malkovich) has stolen the supposedly heavily guarded Royal Crown Jewels from under English's nose (its not said if these include Bonny Prince Charlie's earrings)& is now setting in action his master plan of turning England into the Worlds largest prison: straight after he manages to get himself crowned King! Assigned to save the free world from the clutches of this "jumped-up Frenchman" is British Intelligence Agent Johhny English (Rowan Atkinson). English has been selected not for his skill & ability, but because he & his partner Bough (Ben Miller) are all that remain after all the other agents are killed in a bomb blast. Thankfully his new partner is the smart & beautiful agent Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia-whose acting ability leaves much to be desired). Predictibly the film is littered with plenty of slapstick gags (& a couple of mild gross outs- this is a PG movie after all)which Atkinson fans & kids will love. The special highlight for me is the scene where English crashes a funeral & is saved from disaster by posing as an escaped mental patient! My only complaint is that Robbie Williams sings the title song ARRRGGGGHHH!! How people call him a "rock star" is appalling! (I'll stop my review here before I break into a 500 word anti-Robbie rant. After all it IS meant to be the season of Good Cheer). A good movie to plonk the kids in front of while you struggle with all the sticky tape & giftwrap.
Rating: Summary: When Mr Bean plays Leslie Nielsen's type of humour Review: I love MR BEAN and I was impatient to get this movie. Okay it's not a masterpiece and you will not laugh all the time but you will have a good time wathcing it.Malkovitch is the funny nasty French (By the way it's French accent is quite poor :) and Imbruglia is the MR Bean Girl. Influenced by James Bond of course, the story has been already seen quite often and the jokes are more into those Leslie Nielsen could have done ! I just hope Rowan Atkinson in Mr BEan role for his next movie. It's still watchable !
Rating: Summary: Atkinson is great, the movie lots of slapstick fun Review: Rowan Atkinson can turn average material good and good material great. In this case, it's average material that he elevates to good. While many of the jokes are predictable and the humor not terribly sophisticated in the way that Blackadder or Monty Python often provide, Johnny English nevertheless made me laugh out loud more than once, largely due to the excellent delivery and timing of Rowan Atkinson. There is a lot of fun physical humor similar to what one might expect from Atkinson's Mr. Bean or Peter Sellers playing Inpsector Clouseau. Of course, the slapstick silliness of it all means that many kids will enjoy this, especially if they've seen a few classic James Bond movies first and part of the fun of this movie can be watching it with your children just as sharing the original James Bond movies with them can be a fun shared experience for those of us who grew up watching Sean Connery as 007. Much in the way that Peter Sellers made the more average entries in the Pink Panther series worth watching, Rowan Atkinson does the same for this film. Not as funny as it could have been, but funny nevertheless. If you need a light laugh to cheer you up and there are no Three Stooges shorts handy, this film will provide a lot of the same kinds of laughs.
Rating: Summary: YOU MUST OWN THIS DVD! Review: This is the best movie in the universe! The actors are wonderful and the movie is so hilarious. This British film outshines all others. This DVD is very well worth your money! You will get a great laugh when you see this. Well done to everyone who took part in this film!
Rating: Summary: Funny in a British style Review: Unlike the loud and over the top Austin Powers movies, Johnny English is British style humor, more toned down, and in this case, very funny. Rowan Atkinson is a master of looks and snide remarks, John Malkovich is a great actor being a bad actor playing a French villain with a horrible French accent: It's very funny. It is a British film with French bad guy and lots of shots against the French. Some of the jokes/gags are a little weak, but overall a laugh-out-loud in the theater funny movie.
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