Johnny English Strikes Again

Johnny English Strikes Again is a 2018 action comedy film directed by David Kerr.[3] A sequel to Johnny English Reborn (2011), it is the third instalment of the Johnny English series. The film stars Rowan Atkinson in the title role, alongside Ben Miller, Olga Kurylenko, Jake Lacy and Emma Thompson. The film follows the titular MI7 agent who is called into action, when all undercover operatives are exposed in a cyber attack.

Johnny English Strikes Again
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Kerr
Produced by
Screenplay byWilliam Davies
Based onCharacters
by Neal Purvis
Robert Wade
William Davies
Starring
Music byHoward Goodall
CinematographyFlorian Hoffmeister
Edited byTony Cranstoun
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
Running time
89 minutes[1]
Country
  • France
  • United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$159 million[2]

The film was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 5 October 2018 and in the United States on 26 October 2018, by Universal Pictures. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing $159 million worldwide, with a budget of $25 million.

Plot

A cyber attack exposes MI7’s field agents, forcing the agency to reinstate older inactive agents, including Johnny English. Now working as a geography teacher, he secretly trains his students in espionage. English accidentally incapacitates the other retired agents, leaving him alone to accept the mission. He insists on the services of his old sidekick Jeremy Bough, still an MI7 clerk. Collecting their equipment, including explosive jelly babies and a tracker disguised as a Sherbet Fountain, English and Bough leave behind their mobile phones and drive an old Aston Martin to the source of the attack in France.

They arrive at the Hotel Magnifique in Antibes, where the cyber attack originated. Disguised as waiters, they steal a mobile phone with a photograph of their next target, a yacht named the Dot Calm. While flambéing shrimp, English accidentally sets fire to the restaurant. Sneaking onto the yacht, English and Bough are caught by Russian operative Ophelia Bhuletova, but escape after finding a vast array of computer servers on board.

Pursuing Bhuletova's electric BMW i3 through the countryside, English and Bough run out of fuel. Bhuletova finds them and agrees to meet at the Hotel de Paris in Cagnes-sur-Mer. While English meets Bhuletova at the hotel bar, Bough discovers evidence revealing her to be a spy. Infatuated with Bhuletova, English rejects Bough's suspicions. Bhuletova secretly attempts to kill English, but fails to do so after he accidentally takes a pill which makes him hyperactive.

Further cyber attacks force the Prime Minister to solidify an agreement with Silicon Valley billionaire Jason Volta, to be revealed during a forthcoming G12 meeting.

Having learned that Volta owns the Dot Calm, and suspecting he is behind the cyber attack, English and Bough return home. Seeking more evidence, MI7 arranges for them to infiltrate Volta's mansion. In preparation, English is tasked to complete a virtual reality exploration of the billionaire's mansion. However, he unknowingly leaves the simulation room and assaults various members of the public whilst in the virtual environment (including battering the manager of a local cafe with two baguettes, and commandeering an open-top bus by pushing the tour guide off the bus's top deck).

Arriving at the mansion, English discovers Bhuletova is also a spy. He records evidence of Volta's plans with Bhuletova's iPhone, but a glitch exposes him. English escapes and hijacks a driving instructor's car, returning to MI7 after being chased by Volta. However, English mixes up the phones and instead takes the driving student's phone, therefore he fails to convince MI7 and the Prime Minister of Volta's schemes. The Prime Minister, having heard about both the restaurant and virtual reality incidents, fires English and proceeds with the G12 meeting in Scotland. Bough convinces English to stop Volta anyway, enlisting the assistance of Bough's wife Lydia, the captain of Navy submarine HMS Vengeance, to arrive at Garroch Castle by Loch Nevis.

Bhuletova attempts to kill Volta, but he reveals he knows she is a spy, having immunized himself to her poison ring and removed her handgun's firing pin. Scaling the castle using a powered bodysuit, English intervenes before Volta can kill Bhuletova, who escapes. Volta reveals his plan to extort the G12 leaders by threatening to shut down the internet. English calls MI7, but forgets Lydia's warning about using a mobile phone near the submarine.

An MI7 secretary unintentionally places two telephones next to each other: one on a call from English, the other from Lydia, calling to confirm a launch code English inadvertently keyed in. Mistakenly given the order to attack by English, Lydia launches a ballistic missile. The missile diverts to a Sherbet Fountain beacon left by English on the Dot Calm, destroying the yacht and Volta's server. English, wearing a traditional suit of armour, Bough and Bhuletova chase Volta to his helicopter as he prepares to reroute the attack to a different server in Nevada.

Bhuletova gives English a tablet computer to disable Volta's Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopter. After Volta mocks his inability to use digital technology, English throws the tablet, knocking Volta out, and smashes his phone to stop the attack. The Prime Minister praises English, who accidentally disrobes before the press and G12 leaders while trying to get the armor off.

English returns to his school and is excitedly welcomed by his students. However, he is horrified to see the headmaster about to eat one of the explosive Jelly babies, as the film ends.

Cast

Production

In May 2017, it was announced that Rowan Atkinson would be returning to take the role of Johnny English in the sequel to the film Johnny English Reborn (2011).[9] On 3 August 2017, Working Title Films announced that they had begun production and filming with the director David Kerr.[4][10] The cinematographer is Florian Hoffmeister.

The production designer is Simon Bowles, who won an award for his designs for this movie at the 2019 British Film Designers Guild Awards, shared with set decorator Liz Griffiths and supervising art director Ben Collins. Parts were also filmed in Welham Green, Hertfordshire; and in Gloucestershire.[11][12] Filming continued in France from 26 September, at the Saint Aygulf beach in Var.[5]

On 4 April 2018, the title was revealed to be Johnny English Strikes Again, with a teaser trailer released the day after.[13][14][15]

Release

Johnny English Strikes Again was scheduled to be released in both the United Kingdom and United States on 12 October 2018 by Universal Pictures;[9][16] the date for the United States was later moved up to 20 September 2018, before being pushed back to 26 October 2018.[17] It was released on 5 October 2018 by Cinemax Angola.[18]

The film was set to be released digitally on 4 February 2019, and on DVD and Blu-Ray format on February 18, but in Australia, it was released on 19 December 2018. The Blu-Ray and DVD release in the United States and Canada was January 22, 2019.

Reception

Box office

Johnny English Strikes Again has grossed $4.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $154.5 million elsewhere (including $23.2 million in the United Kingdom), for a total worldwide gross of $159 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Johnny English Strikes Again was released alongside Hunter Killer and Indivisible as well as the wide expansion of Mid90s, and was projected to gross around $2 million from 544 theaters in its opening weekend.[19] It ended up debuting to $1.6 million, finishing 12th at the box office.[20] Deadline Hollywood noted the film's American release was essentially a formality, as it was not built for the audience in the United States, and thus the low opening wasn't seen as a disappointment to the studio.[21]

Outside North America, the film debuted to $5.5 million in the United Kingdom and grossed $14.1 million overall in its second week for a to date total gross of $66.5 million.[22] In its third weekend of international release, the film added another $9.8 million from 57 countries, including a $2.4 million opening in Germany, and a running cume of $96 million.[23]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 37% based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 4.73/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Johnny English Strikes Again might get a few giggles out of viewers pining for buffoonish pratfalls, but for the most part, this sequel simply strikes out."[24] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[25]

gollark: That would be neat, or at least run in-person schools less like prisons.
gollark: > It's hard to compare certainty of one thing with a small risk of anotherThis can be done using "multiplication".
gollark: I mean, school is expensive, computers are... £200 or so for a very basic one?
gollark: Replying to https://discord.com/channels/346530916832903169/348702212110680064/747839510280405092This is somewhat bad. Although I imagine sending people computers would be cheaper than running school.
gollark: Okay, that might not be the reason.

References
  1. "Johnny English Strikes Again". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  2. "Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  3. "Johnny English Strikes Again". universalpictures.com. Universal Pictures. September 29, 2018.
  4. Perry, Spencer (3 August 2017). "Johnny English 3 Begins Production". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  5. Amalric, L. (27 September 2017). "Les photos du premier jour de tournage de Johnny English 3 dans le Var". Nice-Matin (in French). Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  6. Horton, Kim (13 September 2017). "Filming for comedy blockbuster comes to Gloucestershire".
  7. "Johnny English 3".
  8. "Official Site Johnny English 3".
  9. Richardson, Jay (18 May 2017). "Rowan Atkinson to make Johnny English 3". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  10. @Working_Title (3 August 2017). "He's back! #JohnnyEnglish3" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. Davies, Alan (4 September 2017). "Johnny English 3 movie being filmed in Welham Green". whtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  12. Horton, Kim (13 September 2017). "Film crews have descended on a top Gloucestershire location and this is what they're shooting". gloucestershirelive.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  13. "Brand New Trailer Arrives for Johnny English Strikes Again!". Filmoria.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  14. "Prepare for the Johnny English Strikes Again Teaser with a Look Back". ComingSoon.net. 4 April 2018.
  15. "The Johnny English Strikes Again Trailer!". ComingSoon.net. 5 April 2018.
  16. @TomLinay (17 May 2017). "For those interested, Johnny English..." (Tweet). Retrieved 4 August 2017 – via Twitter.
  17. Evry, Max (3 January 2018). "Johnny English 3 Release Date Announced". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  18. "Cinemax - É um espectáculo - Johny English: Volta Atacar". www.cinemax.co.ao (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  19. Rubin, Rebecca (24 October 2018). "'Halloween' to Make Another Killing at the Box Office". Variety. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  20. D'Alessandro, Anthony (28 October 2018). "'Halloween' Screams $32M Second Weekend As October B.O. Moves Toward Record". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  21. Tartaglione, Nancy (29 October 2018). "'Johnny English Strikes Again' Strikes Gold: Why The Spy Spoofs Bond Outside U.S." Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  22. Tartaglione, Nancy (7 October 2018). "'Venom' Sinks Teeth Into $205M Global Bow; Sets Biggest October Debut WW – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  23. Tartaglione, Nancy (21 October 2018). "'Venom' Licks $461M Global; 'Star Is Born' Strums Past $200M; 'Halloween' Takes $92M WW Bow – International Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  24. "Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  25. "Johnny English Strikes Again reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
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