The talented Rowan Atkinson expands his character from a series of TV adverts shown in the UK in the late 1990's onto the big screen.So does the transfer from two-minute sketches adapt successfully into feature-length narrative? The answer surprisingly is quite well,although the film does have flat spots and gags that somewhat misfire.The plot and incidents that take place are an obvious mixture and borrowing from the NAKED GUN and AUSTIN POWERS series of parodies,but what is refreshing is that the character of Johnny English is mostly free of the occasional mugging that was witnessed in the above films,and also Atkinson's MR BEAN creation,which was of course wordless but did sometimes engage in some rather messy slapstick.There is some messy slapstick here,but Atkinson's interpretation is closer to his greatest comic character of Edmund BLACKADDER,with his sometimes cynical and sarcastic tone,though he has traits of bumbling incompetence like Mr.Bean,though not total idiocy which makes English more sympathetic.A lower budget than the AUSTIN POWERS series means there are fewer elaborate set pieces,but some scenes work very well and there are some witty exchanges of dialogue.There's decent support from Natalie Imbruglia,Ben Miller and Tim Pigott-Smith,but John Malkovich is the most amusing as the villain with his cod French accent.It is encouraging to see a comedy which underplays it's scenes these days,rather than performers shouting and screaming in a desperate bid to force laughter out of an audience.That said,some scenes in the film don't always come off,perhaps because they are understated too much,but the best bits are very funny(especially the final scenes)and further sequels with this character would be most welcome.
