Johnny English Reborn

The recipe for this spy spoof sequel is James Bond by way of Inspector Clouseau, with nimble physical comedian Rowan Atkinson working his trademark ridiculously goofy rubber face. Director Oliver Parker begins the sequel with Johnny English (Atkinson) holed up in a Tibetan monastery learning self-control after having been ejected from British Intelligence for bungling a mission. Following some puerile sight gags, our hero is called back into service by the MI7 director (Gillian Anderson) when an old contact with important information (Richard Schiff) insists that he'll give it only to Johnny. The tip leads to English being put on the trail of a group of assassins that supposedly includes a mole in the agency. The plot grows very complicated—with English himself being fingered as the turncoat at one point—but Johnny ultimately stumbles his way into uncovering the villain and saving the day. Of course, everything merely serves as an occasion for Atkinson to indulge in slapstick pratfalls and other silly bits of business, which tend to lack the Rube Goldberg ingenuity that marked Peter Sellers's routines in the Pink Panther movies. Although it earns an occasional laugh, this is a relatively sleepy retread of a tired formula that even Atkinson's tomfoolery can't salvage. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Oliver Parker and screenwriter Hamish McColl, deleted/extended scenes with intros by Parker (39 min.), “The Wheelchair Chase” behind-the-scenes segment (8 min.), a gag reel (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are “The English Files” making-of featurette (25 min.), an “English in Hong Kong” location segment (5 min.), “Working with Rowan” on the star Rowan Atkinson (4 min.), “Gadgets” on the high tech toys (3 min.), the BD-Live function, and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a lame sequel.] (F. Swietek)