Film

Johnny English

Name: Johnny English
Genre: Adventure, Action, Comedy
Released: 2003
Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Natalie Imbruglia, Ben Miller, John Malkovich, Greg Wise

Parody
Heist
Spy action
Light-hearted

Rowan Atkinson plays a hapless, vainglorious MI7 agent bumped up to top spy by accident, and spends the film blustering his way through a jewel-heist plot with zero competence and total confidence. It's broad, silly, gadget-heavy slapstick pitched somewhere between Bond parody and Mr. Bean with a briefcase — daft, undemanding fun for anyone who likes their comedy in a nice suit.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you find Rowan Atkinson's rubber-faced physical comedy funniest when it's aimed at a straight-faced spy movie, and you don't mind a plot that exists mainly to hang gags on.

Skip it if you expect sharp, subtle spy satire, since the slapstick here is broad and repetitive, and a lead who mugs relentlessly can wear thin over a film this length.

What it asks of you: Little from you beyond a willingness to laugh at a grown man's dignity taking knocks; at 87 minutes it moves briskly and never asks for patience with its story.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery1997

The daddy of modern spy spoofs — swinging sixties pastiche, deranged villain monologues, and a hero as gloriously self-satisfied and clueless as Johnny English himself.

But The humour is broader and cruder, with a lot of innuendo that hasn't aged gently.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery poster

Get Smart2008

Steve Carell does earnest, well-meaning incompetence brilliantly in this big, glossy update of the sixties sitcom, with real stunts wrapped around the silliness.

But Slicker and more action-forward than English — less pure farce, more studio comedy-thriller.

Spy2015

Melissa McCarthy is a desk analyst thrust into the field, and the film is sharper and funnier than it has any right to be, with Jason Statham brilliantly sending himself up.

But Much more sweary and R-rated than English's gentle, PG-ish silliness.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Johnny English

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Our Man in Havana1960

Same DNA — an incompetent nobody accidentally becomes a spy and everyone above him is too vain or foolish to notice — but this got there first, and lets the joke curdle into something sadder.

A vacuum-cleaner salesman is recruited as a British spy, invents fake intelligence to keep his bosses happy, and chaos follows — the bumbling-agent joke, decades before English, played with wit and real menace underneath.

But Black and white, slower-paced, and Graham Greene's satire has a darker, more cynical edge than pure comedy.

The Pink Panther2006

Steve Martin's Inspector Clouseau is another proudly incompetent Frenchman blundering through an investigation with total self-belief — same comic engine, different accent.

But Some prefer the Peter Sellers originals, and this one divides critics more sharply.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!1988

Leslie Nielsen's deadpan disaster of a detective is the gold standard for playing chaos with total sincerity, gag after gag landing without a flicker of a wink.

But It's a cop spoof rather than a spy one, and the joke-density is relentless, almost exhausting.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! poster

Kingsman: The Secret Service2015

A stylish, ultraviolent, tongue-in-cheek take on the gentleman-spy myth that Johnny English is also poking fun at, just with genuinely impressive action set pieces.

But Far more violent and self-serious about its own cool than anything in English's world.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies2006

A pitch-perfect French pastiche of sixties spy movies, with a hero as vain, oblivious and accidentally offensive as they come — deeply, cleverly silly.

But It's in French with subtitles, and its satire of colonial-era attitudes needs some cultural context.

Mr. Bean's Holiday2007

Atkinson doing what he does best — near-wordless physical comedy — as a hopeless Englishman abroad causing chaos with a kind heart.

But No spy plot at all, and the humour is even more childlike and slow-burn.

Top Secret!1984

From the Airplane! team, this spy-movie-meets-Elvis-musical spoof is gleefully stupid and packed with visual gags that reward rewatching.

But Very much of its era, with references and jokes that need a bit of patience for a modern viewer.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy2011

Same institution, same bureaucratic bumbling and ego at the top — but here the consequences are real, and the film asks what actually happens when the fools are in charge.

The deadly serious flip side of English's world: British intelligence riddled with vanity, incompetence and betrayal, told as a slow, aching, brilliantly acted puzzle box led by Gary Oldman.

But Glacially paced, emotionally cold, and demands close attention — nothing about it wants to make you laugh.

Danger Mouse1981

Johnny English is essentially Danger Mouse grown up and given a real budget — same patriotic, self-assured secret agent whose confidence vastly outstrips his competence, just drawn instead of played.

A very British animated secret agent — supremely confident, faintly ridiculous, saving the world weekly with his bumbling sidekick — that basically taught a generation how to laugh at this exact archetype.

But It's a kids' cartoon from the eighties, short episodes, and gentler than anything aimed at adults.