Johnny English Strikes Again

Johnny English reminds me of Maxwell Smart, that inept CONTROL agent 86 from the 60’s spy TV comedy “Get Smart.” In the third (and probably last) movie in the series, Rowan Atkinson, as Johnny English,  bumbles his way through a series of misadventures, and yet saves the day without even knowing exactly why or how he did it.  This time around Johnny is retired and teaching Geography in a small, country boarding school – away from the intrigues of London.  Some of the funniest bits in the movie are Johnny teaching spy skills, like camoflauge and bomb building, to his enthusiastic students.  Through a series of serendipitous events, Johnny English is one of the few agents who have not been compromised by a massive security breach.  It was fun to see old timers Michael Gambon, Edward Fox and Charles Dance as the other agents who haven’t been exposed.  But it turns out they are very unlucky agents, and their cameos were all too brief.  You will not laugh out loud like  you would in a broad comedy, but there are isolated islands of chuckles.  Emma Thompson stars as the Prime Minister who will do anything, and I mean anything, to keep her job.  The movie lags in between the comedy bits, so I really can’t recommend you go see this at the theatres.  That is too bad, because I loved the first two Johnny English movies and had high hopes for this one.  Sometimes, you can go to the well once too often.