BEFORE: Not really in the mood for a comedy - we spent most Monday afternoon with our cat Gypsy at the vet, since she was having trouble breathing. We learned she had lung cancer, and they gave her a steroid shot and some time in an oxygen chamber, and she seemed to be doing better, but her breathing trouble came back overnight, and by Tuesday morning she was gone. On the other hand, maybe I really need a comedy. I'll try to muddle through, I don't want to bring everybody down. Maybe by January 1 I'll be able to write a few paragraphs on what a great (and also challenging) cat she was.
Linking from "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", Colin Firth was also in "Love Actually" (it's on the list) with Rowan Atkinson (last heard in "The Lion King")
THE PLOT: Johnny English goes up against international assassins hunting down the Chinese premier.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "Johnny English" (Movie #56)
AFTER: I went back and read my review of "Johnny English", which was rather short. What I said about it was that it had to feel both inept and accomplished at same time - the hero has to save the day, but he also has to be funny while doing it. Much of the humor is based on mistaken identity, and the rest is a lot of slapstick.
I'm just going to repeat all that for this sequel, but it all still applies. This film sets itself a really tough task by walking such a fine line - and if that's truly what it set out to do, then it succeeded. But it's a weird place to put a comedy, one that's trying to be funny, but not TOO funny like "The Pink Panther", and to also sort of work as a spy film, but yet not be as serious as, say, a Bond film.
Regarding the plot, we've seen this sort of comedic riff on "Manchurian Candidate" stuff before, with a mind-controlled assassin, most notably in "The Naked Gun" - so not much new comedic ground was covered here. Even the spy spoof stuff has been done before, most notably in "Austin Powers". With all the talk of secret organizations like "Vortex", it sort of works as a parody of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", which had all these secret code names like "Witchcraft".
The new bits here include a low-speed chase on a motorized wheelchair, a different spin on the usual sportscar vs. sportscar high-speed chase through the streets.
Also starring Gillian Anderson (last seen in "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People"), Rosamund Pike (last seen in "Jack Reacher"), Dominic West (last seen in "Centurion"), Daniel Kaluuya, Tim McInnerny.
RATING: 5 out of 10 chopped vegetables
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