This movie starts with showing Johnny getting some amusing training from Buddhist monks(reminds of Jim Carrey’s’Ace Ventura -the Pet Detective’). His eyes twitch every time the mention of Mozambique comes -the reason is diagnosed by the behavioral psychologist-intelligence personnel-girlfriend later. Called back to take up the case involving a conspiracy involving the big three of the intelligence world, including a mole in his agency( Toshiba British Intelligence, ha ha) to kill the Chinese premier, he messes up things and is made the fall guy and then rises up from his ashes to outwit the bad guys -after many a dumb moves.
Atkinson looks aged, the acting somewhat strained, and seems as if the seams of comedy and action were showing at times. He still is amusing but perhaps this is a movie too much to show him as a present day version of Don Quixote.
This movie is mediocre even if it is enjoyable. It is fast paced, it has comedy so takes off some tension. The cast is good, with Rowan Atkinson -older looking-in the lead. A gorgeous shrink(was in a 007 movie too), a female boss( a Judi Dench substitute, an X-file has-been), a Chinese vacuum cleaner killer.His Watson, the assistant, is good but not very impressive. Not worth spending dollars in double figures on the ticket-which I did. It falls short both as a comedy and as an action movie. You can find some similarities with Mr Bean series(sack jumping, rising and descending on a motorized chair, other slapstick stuff, obsession with the royalty etc); James Bond parody has been stretched in such a way that right from gadgets to nailing down the villain, comedy falls behind. Comedy should have been the leading factor. Many of the components relating to the action aspect are formulaic, borrowed from action movies of the James Bond kind and many of the comedy scenes are formulaic, bearing similarities with Rowan Atkinson’s earlier appearances on the screen. More money has been spent on locales, cast and things but the earlier movie was more focused. I can’t help comparing it to the previous Johnny English movie and I find the earlier one to be better. The earlier one was balanced the right way in maintaining the comedy/action proportion.