The Name's English; Johnny English.

The spy spoof is not a new concept; Leslie Nielsen attacked it in Spy Hard and The Naked Gun and let’s not forget funny man Mike Myers in the highly successful Austin Powers trilogy. But Rowan Atkinson brings a certain sense of quirky charm and a complete lack of ability to the role of Johnny English. In fact, it seems that English’s sidekick Bough (played by Ben Miller) is brainier and more sensible then his superior. Yet he is still undermined due to his lack of status.

After an explosion kills all other secret agents across England, it’s up to English to ensure that the recently restored Crown jewels remain safe during their unveiling at the Tower of London. However, he fails and the jewels are stolen during a sudden black out. His chief suspect is French businessman Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich), due to his links to the royal English line.

In order to confirm these suspicions, he and Bough break into Sauvage’s office building in hopes to find any incriminating evidence which would point towards Sauvage’s intentions. They discover that Sauvage has ordered the manufacture of a prosthetic replica of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s head and face. It is later revealed that Sauvage plans to have himself crowned King to give him the power to turn England into the largest prison in the world, where countries would be free to dump their “human waste.”

At the crowning, English manages to foil the evil businessman’s plans (after embarrassing himself profusely) and saves England from its grim fate. Sauvage awaits trial for high treason and English is knighted for his actions.

While English shows complete incompetence for any actual secret agent activities, he possesses a certain skill for covering up his mistakes. Whether it be accidentally knocking out the head of security with a bottle or climbing up a sewer pipe after overlooking the ladder right beside it, English always manages to come out with at least part of his dignity intact. Anyway, why own up to your own bumbling actions when you can just as easily blame a completely fabricated man with an eye-patch, two teeth and two banana-shaped scars on both his cheeks? No matter what the “cock-up,” English never seems to give up the fight to save England from Sauvage’s clutches.

Sauvage is the evil force with one thing on his mind; power. Malkovich’s French accent is convincing and it may be worthwhile viewing the movie for that aspect alone (along with Atkinson’s impressive facial expressions and super sonic whistling). However, the character of Sauvage is quite typical; an evil genius of high status hell-bent on gaining an even higher status.

Towards the end of the film, he becomes even a little childish, yelling at English to “Give it back!” when his crown is stolen from him.

However, even given its typical characters, Johnny English still exudes a certain comedic charm. Whether it be English trying to slip into the role of a secret agent when he more then fits the role of a bumbling sidekick, or him trying to woo his love interest with his terrible Japanese. Of course in every spy movie, there’s a leading lady, the object of the affections of the leading man.

Enter Lorna Campbell (played by singer Natalie Imbruglia), the beautiful, sexy, motorcycle-riding secret agent who always seems to pop up to save the day. With the combined help of Lorna and Bough, English does just that.

With the exception of some rather wooden acting from the smaller roles, a rather static “romance” between Lorna and English and some hit and miss comedy attempts, this film still exhibits why Atkinson is considered one of comedy’s greats. Lorna and English are the perfect odd couple and their love is comedic enough. On top of that, add a car chase involving a hearse and a car removal truck, English taking a hospital hostage by mistake and forcefully making the Archbishop moon a crowd on live television and you’ll understand why his boss, Pegasus was so reluctant to assign him to the case in the first place.

Filled with laughs, action and stupidity, Johnny English may only be for Atkinson fans, but I recommend viewing it and making up your own mind. It’s a film you’ll either hate, love or be too ashamed to admit that you like.