Johnny English Reborn

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

Well I liked this one much more than the first one, that's for sure. The new James Bonds streamlined the series, got rid of some of the campy stuff and added the more modern touches, i.e. wobbly cam action, some parkour etc. This film wisely takes it's lead from those films and as a result is a much more well rounded film than the first one.

While there's still a lot of very silly jokes and physical comedy in there, which is to be expected, there was also a touch more wit. There were some bigger action sequences and they each had a little quirk to make them stand out. My favourite was the parkour chase in China, where instead of trying to follow the villains crazy physical feats he finds a simple and more logical way around obstacles, like, opening doors. It's very funny and a great comment on the new form of action.

The evil plan is a lot less cartoonish in this film as well, which helps a great deal and the climax worked better for me too. The managed to find a vehicle for Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy which came much more organically from the plot.

The silly humour still isn't my thing, but on the whole it's a much better film than the original. Much like Mr. Bean's Holiday was more successful as a feature than his Ultimate Disaster film.