LAUGH AT THE FACE OF DANGER.

After a major scandal sent top intelligence agent Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) into retirement, he’s brought back several years later to stop a plot to assassinate the Chinese Premier.

Was this sequel worth making, we all wondered, but both films were indeed box-office hits. As a spy spoof, it all felt a bit tiresome already in the first chapter, but the sequel has better slapstick than dialogue; a few scenes are likely to crack smiles.

The cast is full of familiar faces, but Atkinson feels like the only one making a real effort.

2011-U.S.-U.K.-France. 101 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Oliver Parker. Cast: Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English), Gillian Anderson (Pamela Thornton), Dominic West (Simon Ambrose), Rosamund Pike, Richard Schiff, Daniel Kaluuya. 

Trivia: Followed by Johnny English Strikes Again (2018).