Not even Mr Bean antics can save Johnny English

Clueless MI5 agent Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is given the job of guarding the crown jewels during a Royal visit.

Needless to say they are stolen and English is removed from duty after he blames the theft on debonair French businessman Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich).

Despite his appalling French accent, Malkovich shows glimpses of the fiendishness that always made him such an excellent villain, but this is never developed, and he is used here as nothing more than a fall-guy for more of Atkinson’s bumbling.

Meanwhile, English teams up with Interpol agent Lorna Campbell (Natalie Imbruglia), who’s one of the few to believe him, and they set out to foil Sauvage’s attempt at forcing the Queen to abdicate her throne and hand the crown to him.

To be honest Johnny English fails to deliver on so many levels it would take an age to list them all.

The plot is poorly written, the above synopsis is pretty much it, the dialogue is childish and most of the film’s best jokes were revealed in the trailers.

Rowan Atkinson does his best to drag things along, but you need a lot more than funny facial contortions and Mr Bean buffoonery to make a decent film.

Laugh, I thought I’d never start.

Comedy, PG. *