Sorry Johnny, nobody does it better

Johnny English

Director: Peter Howitt

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Ben Miller, Tim Pigott-Smith

Cert: PG General.

You cannot spoof 007, the super cool special agent does it better in each of the James Bond films.

Neither can you treat the genre with quite the seriousness we see in this lame vehicle for the dubious charms of the rubber-faced Atkinson.

The makers are keen to insist that this is NOT a poke at 007, nor is it a British version of Austin Powers. In short, it is not a great deal of anything.

Atkinson has proved himself vastly popular as the bungling Mr Bean and here, while he is not that annoying character, he is bungling, and annoying, as a so-so spy who tackles a smirking and OTT Malkovich, playing an evil Frenchman bent on ruling the world.

There is nothing witty or inventive about this dismal film, even if it was, amazingly, written by Robert Wade and Neal Purvis, who penned Die Another Day and The World is Not Enough.

The one word which sums up this one is charmless, which is most certainly what a comedy should not be.

Star Rating: 1/5