Johnny English
British comedian Rowan Atkinson, better known to most as Mr. Bean, returns to the states to present "Johnny English", an already successful international hit. Atkinson plays the title character, an intelligence gatherer who dreams of becoming an agent with British intelligence. He gets that chance when all the other agents are killed. His first assignment is to protect the crown jewels of England, something he fails at. In his investigation to find them, all signs lead to Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich with a playful French accent), but he must go through obstacles to implicate him. Helping him is his partner Bough (Ben Miller) and French agent Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia, taking a break from her singing career). English soon finds out stealing the crown jewels is the first step in making him king and turn England into one large prison.

Maybe because I was such a huge fan of Mr. Bean, I was disappointed by this film since it never reached that level of physical comedy. But Atkinson's actions are funny, nonetheless. He has that thing called timing that all comedians must have. From the writers of two recent Bond movies, "Johnny English" has all the elements of a well-done comedy. Yes, there are a lot of unnecessary sight gags, something that has dragged the Austin Powers sequels, but it makes up for it with its wordplay and the situations the inexperienced English finds himself in. One problem though is in any spy movie, you're supposed to take the spy seriously to make you believe he could do the job. Austin Powers had this aura. Johnny English does not. The director puts in scenes showing off English's fighting and driving skills, but in others, he can't fire off a gun and can't scout a location correctly. As a result, you can't honestly believe he is a spy. Instead, it's a collection of funny scenes starring a guy who's playing a really bad spy. 2.5 stars