Johnny English Strikes Again

Rowan Atkinson's third outing as the bumbling British secret agent is, like its predecessor Johnny English Reborn seven years earlier, more dependent on the silent(ish) movie slapstick of his comic creation Mr Bean than the arch spy spoof tropes of the first film in the franchise. There are also elements of Inspector Clouseau in this yarn about English returning to the intelligence community to thwart cyber hackers, but the flimsy plot seems only there to link the self-contained and often predictable madcap set pieces. Emma Thompson brings a touch of class as a highly strung unpopular prime minister (clearly modelled on Theresa May), and Ben Miller gives it his all, returning as put-upon sidekick Bough. With the likes of the 007 and Mission: Impossible series increasingly carrying humorous digs at espionage thriller clichés it's perhaps sensible for the English brand to focus more on Atkinson's broader gift for physical comedy, but the results play like a string of unconnected sketches rather than a solid narrative.