What Do The Critics Say?

"With a new director, new screenwriters and a spanking new adventure, Johnny English Reborn is funnier and more complete than the original. The film unspools like one continuous delightful gag as it changes locations, ending in the spectacular French Alps amid snow, pine trees and cable cars. There are music jokes too and a running gag involving a mean, white-haired Asian assassin impersonating a cleaning lady with a lethal vacuum cleaner." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "The film moves briskly if predictably along, with Johnny English's belief in his superior powers always leaving him one stumble from disaster. This time round, the producers have attempted to make English slightly more loveable: a nice chap, even. Broadened their canvas to include some classic Bond type locations: ski runs; mid air fights in a dangling cable car. That sort of thing. But the real suspense is always watching for English to put the next foot wrong, and then retrieve his balance. I found it a hoot." Julie Rigg MOVIETIME "While Atkinson's timing remains impeccable, "St Trinian's" helmer Oliver Parker has a tendency to undercut the comedic impact of all but the most obvious gags. Lensing by Danny Cohen lends the pic a shiny veneer. Ilan Eshkeri's score plays it pretty straight, preferring to let the comedy speak for itself." Russell Edwards VARIETY

"Though the film boasts an impressive supporting cast: including the stoic Gillian Anderson as MI7's head ‘Pegasus', and a luminous Rosamund Pike as behavioural psychologist/love interest, Kate Sumner; this is Atkinson's film, and there's no denying the man's talent as a performer. With the slightest of facial expressions, Atkinson has an uncanny ability to send audiences into spontaneous fits of laughter with little effort. The finale set against the Swiss Alps is a tight and fun climax." Michael Simms FILMINK "For his fans, just seeing Rowan Atkinson's face is enough to make them laugh, but when he starts to actually do anything, go anywhere or say something, we know accidents follow. In Johnny English, England's version of the bumbling US spy Maxwell Smart, Atkinson has found the ultimate vehicle for his kind of humour. Dominic West is effective as fellow agent Simon, and Rosamund Pike is superb as Kate, the behaviour specialist who finds English fascinating: and lovable. " Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "Moderately funny if you still laugh at people walking into stuff, falling off stuff, and having their private parts inadvertently collide with stuff." Leigh Paatsch HERALD SUN "The direction keeps the action moving along at a tidy pace. Danny Cohen's lenswork lends it all a suitably slick surface. But it's Atkinson as the hapless, arrogant but indestructible English who skates across that surface with the greatest of ease, moving from one debacle to another, his contortions and expressions rendering most of the gravitas of the supporting cast redundant." Chris Wade THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

The Inside Story For those who can't remember (or don't want to remember) between 1992 and 1997, comic actor Rowan Atkinson was featured in a series of popular British credit card commercials in which he played an accident-prone spy. It was at that time Atkinson had the idea to create a feature film based on the character from the advertisement. He took his concept to Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, producers at Working Title Films with whom he had collaborated over a number of years on such films as "The Tall Guy" (1989), as well as the blockbusters "Four Weddings and a Funeral" ("1994") and "Bean" ("1997"). In 2003, the highly anticipated feature film "Johnny English" opened to enormous international success. With a production budget of $US40 million it grossed $US160,583,018 million at the worldwide box office, despite copping a belting from film critics. Directed by Peter Howitt and produced by Bevan, Fellner and Mark Huffam, the film starred Atkinson as Johnny English, Australian actress Natalie Imbruglia as Special Agent Lorna Campbell, comedian Ben Miller as English’s sidekick, Bough, and multiple Academy Award® nominee John Malkovich as the very French and very evil business magnate Pascale Sauvage. Since then, Atkinson developed another one of his characters into a sequel that was just as popular as the first. "Mr Bean’s Holiday" was released in 2007 to global success. But it wasn’t time for Atkinson to retire English quite yet. A second movie was put in development, and it went into production in 2010. "We did a second Bean movie with Rowan about four years ago," Bevan explained. "He likes to make a movie every four to five years, and so we thought the time was right for a second film. There has not been a new Bond or Bourne film for a while, so when we come out in the latter part of 2011, we’ll have a pretty clear field. We also felt that in these times, people want a bit of comedy." Aside from the commercial reasons for making a sequel to the comedy/spy thriller, the team saw an opportunity to make a film that was different in tone from the first. "We always thought English was a fascinating character, and we saw an opportunity to put Johnny in a more real world and more exciting situations," producer Chris Clark notes. British comedian, writer and actor ("The Parent Trap") Hamish McColl, who had previously collaborated with Atkinson and Working Title Films on Mr. Bean’s Holiday, was enlisted to take on the screenplay based on a story by executive producer William Davies. "Since Johnny English," says McColl, "we’ve had the Bourne and the new Bond movies that have changed the look of the genre. We wanted the second film to move on from the first and be more contemporary and exciting." Comedy remained just as important to the writer. "My ambition is that the audience is caught up in the film in the fullest sense. If they’re not on the edge of their seats in terms of the story, I want them rocking back in them because of the comedy." Atkinson, a three time winner of Sweden's Aftonbladet TV Prize, believed the first "Johnny English" told a story that was more incredible than most spy films. His ambition for the second was to have a more realistic narrative upon which to hang the jokes. "We wanted it to be funny but, as importantly, make the audience interested to know what is going to happen to the character. We wanted to invest a little more emotion in the character and the predicament of Johnny English in the hopes that it keeps audiences engaged." For Atkinson, stepping back into English’s shoes after eight years away was comfortable. "I have always enjoyed playing him, with his smugness and capacity to overreach and to overestimate his skills." "There is something inherently amusing about him," Atkinson ("Keeping Mum") notes. And, does that apply to all the characters he plays? "I feel very comfortable with all the characters I play, whether it’s Mr Bean or a character like Johnny English. I slip back into them with great ease." With the script in development, British comedic actor and "The Importance of Being Earnest" director Oliver Parker was approached to direct the film. "At first, I wasn’t sure there would be enough for me to get my teeth into creatively, but when I read the script, I thought Hamish had done a fantastic job." After meeting with Atkinson, McColl and the producers, Parker realized their ambitions matched his, and all camps wanted to make the film a larger-scale project. "The world of espionage has changed since the first movie and so you don’t necessarily have to play the same note. The style of filming could have a new injection of creativity and ideas. The script had an ambitious story to tell, and I knew it could work as a thriller in its own right." Atkinson appreciated that his writer was a multihyphenate and that his director had much patience. "Apart from the fact that Hamish is a skilled comedy performer, he is also a skilled comedy writer. But the most important thing is that I get on with him extremely well. He comes up with ideas that amuse me, and hopefully I come up with ideas that amuse him." Parker had other qualities that appealed to the actor. "Oliver is the most patient man. I easily lose confidence and question everything that is going on, and that is difficult and frustrating for a director. Amazingly, he never lost his temper, never a harsh word, and he ensured that the film was done on budget and on time. He is a wonderful person to work with, and more importantly, he knows a good joke when he sees it." When it to casting the film, 'authenticity' was a key word. "I was keen to assemble the kind of team that if Daniel Craig had slipped into its ranks, they could all make a Bond movie together," Parker ("An Ideal Husband") offered. Best known for her groundbreaking role as Special Agent Scully in the global hit "The X-Files", Gillian Anderson accepted the role of Pamela Thornton, the no-nonsense head of MI7, who has guided the organization to new heights. Anderson, a two time winner of Sweden's Aftonbladet TV Prize (1997 & '98), happens to be a fan of Atkinson’s comedy, so, to play the head of MI7 was an enticing prospect. "When I saw the first film, I started laughing from the title sequence. There is just something about Rowan’s timing. I find him endlessly funny. The opportunity to do comedy on a big scale and the chance to work with and observe Rowan’s process were just too good to miss out on." "Gillian brings hardness, credibility and a bite to Pamela. You believe that this woman is in charge and is not going to take any prisoners, and she is not going to tolerate any silliness from Johnny English," Atkinson notes. Rosamund Pike ("An Education" & "Made in Dagenham") was cast as MI7 behavioural psychologist Kate Sumner. It was important for the filmmakers that the audience believe the romantic connection between the fetching Kate and the awkward English: and Pike was just the performer to pull it off. The 2005 British Independent Film Award winner researched the role by reading a good deal of material on behavioural psychology, including books by the FBI and anthropologist Desmond Morris. "Kate’s job is to read people’s expressions and interpret their behaviour for MI7. When she meets Johnny she finds him a captivating study: with his curious facial expressions and body ticks. She sees the honesty that is at the core of his character, and she finds it refreshing and adorable." For English’s ultimate hero, MI7 agent Simon Ambrose (Agent One), the team cast Dominic West (the wisecracking Baltimore detective Jimmy McNulty on the HBO hit TV series" The Wire"). "We needed the epitome of the classic agent, to whom Johnny aspires and to whom Johnny is enormously sycophantic," Parker says. "Dominic has so much charisma and wit, you could believe him as the bad guy or as the new Bond." West had actually seen Atkinson in his one-man show when he (West) was fifteen years old. "I’ve admired Rowan for a long time. It’s interesting to watch him work and see how precise he is and how much concentration he has. He is methodical and meticulous." Atkinson believes that West (who was cast as General Titus Flavius Virilus in "Centurian") played Ambrose brilliantly. "Dominic brings total credibility to the role; he is a heroic, dashing and charming figure." One of the trickiest parts of the casting process was finding someone to play Agent Tucker, English's sidekick. The filmmakers were looking for a young actor who could represent the new world of MI7, in contrast to English’s old-fashion version of skirt chasing and rule breaking. After auditioning many young talents, they found British actor Daniel Kaluuya, known by U.K. audiences as Posh Kenneth in the cult E4 teen drama "Skins". Kaluuya, who played Michael Fry (a.k.a Tealeaf) in TV'S "Psychoville", recently won both the 2010 Evening Standard Theatre and the 2010 Critic's Circle Theatre Awards for outstanding newcomer for his performance in the Roy Williams play "Sucker Punch". "We were looking for someone who could, with credibility, suffer and tolerate the oddities of working with Johnny English, and Daniel does that extremely well," Atkinson ("The Lion King") notes. Kaluuya appreciated the nuances Atkinson brings to his physical comedy. "Rowan is a great comic, and when you work with him you see why. He is so mathematical and logical with his comedy." Tim McInnerny was cast as Patch Quartermain, MI7'’s wheelchair-bound, weapons expert. McInnerny last worked with Atkinson on BBC1'S "The Black Adder" series of sixteen years ago. "It was a bit odd being reunited with Rowan, but also great. We have a shorthand of understanding how each other works, which makes it so much fun." For the additional supporting roles, Pik-Sen Lim (TV'S "Mind Your Language") was cast as the Killer Cleaner, who converts all her gadgets into a weapons, and serves as English’s possible demise on a number of occasions. Williams Belle (a Parkour expert), was cast as Ling, the man who English chases across the roofs of Hong Kong. Stephen Campbell Moore ("The History Boys") came aboard to play the British Prime Minister; while Richard Schiff ("Last Chance Harvey") joined the production to play CIA agent Fisher and Mark Ivanir ("The Human Resources Manager") to portray Russian spy Karlenko. Filming took thirteen weeks, commencing in the U.K., then to the French Alps, with the last two weeks in Hong Kong and its neighbouring region of Macau . "When we get to Hong Kong, it gives us this gritty, colourful texture and dirty contrasts to the other world. It provides a whole different backdrop for Johnny," BAFTA Film Award winning Production Designer Jim Clay ("Children of Men") says. Besides filming at Ealing Studios, some of the larger sets were built in the Gillette Building in West London. "It’s been fascinating to watch Rowan, either behind the camera or in front," Clark notes. "On a personal level, it’s been interesting to see the ambition and vision that we had for the film pay off. Plus, seeing Rowan working with the calibre of actors like Gillian, Rosamund and Dominic has made it a fascinating journey." What's It All About?

Johnny English has retreated to a Tibetan monastery run by Ting Wang to hide from his shameful Mozambique cock-up eight years ago. Now, the most unlikely intelligence officer in Her Majesty's Secret Service must stop a group of international assassins before they eliminate a world leader and cause global chaos. In the years since MI-7's top spy vanished off the grid, English has been honing his unique skills in a remote region of Asia. But when his agency superiors learn of an attempt against the Chinese premier's life, they must hunt down the highly unorthodox agent. With the world needing him once again, Johnny English is back in action. With one shot at redemption, he must employ the latest in hi-tech gadgets to unravel a secret web of conspiracy, known only as Vortex, that runs throughout the KGB, CIA and even MI-7, using every trick in his playbook to protect us all: without failing.

The Verdict "Despite that fact that 2003's "Johnny English" took $US160 million, one could hardly call it a success. Roped in by their love for Atkinson, loyal fans the world over, jammed into cinemas in the belief that they were getting value for their money. For most it was a bitterly disappointing experience. Like a pride of Lions homing in on a Thompsons Gazelle, critics savaged both the film and, Atkinson. Fortunately for Atkinson, although deeply wounded, he somehow managed to survived that ferocious encounter: one which left him terribly scarred. Now. eight and a half years on, Atkinson returns to the big-screen as Johnny English in the MI7 spies latest adventure: "Johnny English Reborn". Of course, there's some big question everyone wants answered, like: 'is it better than the original' and 'is it funny'? According to film critic Leigh Paatsch it is "Moderately funny if you still laugh at people walking into stuff, falling off stuff, and having their private parts inadvertently collide with stuff." That's a bit like saying to a bunch of kids: 'it's funny if you like cute talking animals, poop jokes and farting." Leigh (the wise old dog) cleverly tapped into what most audiences consider: if handled well; are aspects that would make any comedy great fun to watch. Atkinson's latest film will redeem him to his many fans. It's still a little silly in parts, but it definately is a more mature version this time around, thanks to an excellent supporting cast. And, don't believe the bullshit that the best parts are in the trailer: because they aren't! Has Johnny English really been 'Reborn'? The audience I sat in with, certainly gave me, that impression. 3 1/2 STARS." Who Is Playing Who?

Rowan Atkinson Dominic West Gillian Anderson Rosamund Pike Daniel Kaluuya Richard Schiff Ben Miller Stephen Campbell Moore Christina Chong Burn Gorman Seelan Gunaseelan Togo Igawa Mark Ivanir Chris Jarman Tim McInnerny

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Johnny English Simon Ambrose MI7 Agent Pamela Thornton Kate Sumner Agent Tucker Agent Fisher Bough The Prime Minister Barbara Slater Tech Agent Ting Wang Karlenko Michael Tembe Patch Quartermain

The Production Team Directed by Oliver Parker Screenplay by William Davies & Hamish McColl characters by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade Produced by Tim Bevan/Chris Clark/Eric Fellner Original Music by Ilan Eshkeri Cinematography by Danny Cohen Film Editing by Guy Bensley Casting by Lucy Bevan Production Design by Jim Clay Art Direction by Paul Laugier & Mike Stallion Set Decoration by Caroline Smith Costume Design by Beatrix Aruna Pasztor Run Time 101 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2011 - Universal Pictures - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2011 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian & International Copyright, Trademark Laws & Intellectual Property Rights.