Post by Vits on Jan 1, 2019 12:37:28 GMT
JOHNNY ENGLISH
4/10
JOHNNY ENGLISH wasn't very funny, it didn't have much going for it visually and it seemed like the score's only purpose was to let the viewer know when to laugh. JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN does one of the things that a parody should do: Try to replicate the look and feel of the genre it's making of. This results in some nice shots and music. This also allows Rowan Atkinson to show his serious side for a change and he's quite good at it. Too bad that the movie doesn't do the other thing that a parody should do: Make fun of the genre's negative aspects through comedy instead of just adding gags to clichéd scenes. As comedies in general go, this one is even less funny than its predecessor. It's also longer and, therefore, boring.
3/10
What a relief that, with JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN, the saga (I think that's the right term, since there's such a big gap between each movie) is back to a more appropriate running time, but it's also back to the visual lazyness. OK, that's a little unfair. The slapstick gags are still presented with wide shots and little cutting. It's in every other moment where the directing, cinematography and editing fall flat. There's also more use of green screen and CGI effects and they don't work. The humour is at an all-time low (not for cinema; just for this trilogy). Rowan's performances in the previous movies had shades of his most popular character and I was OK with that, because it's normal for actors to have a favorite acting style and/or trademarks. This time, from the awkward smiles to the eyebrow movements to the random noises, he's pretty much playing MR. BEAN. There are things in this installment that didn't shock me because they were also present in the previous 2:
-Many gags rely on people not seeing/hearing something that they should be able to see/hear.
-Many gags rely on people witnessing something without intervining, even though they could.
1/10
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4/10
JOHNNY ENGLISH wasn't very funny, it didn't have much going for it visually and it seemed like the score's only purpose was to let the viewer know when to laugh. JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN does one of the things that a parody should do: Try to replicate the look and feel of the genre it's making of. This results in some nice shots and music. This also allows Rowan Atkinson to show his serious side for a change and he's quite good at it. Too bad that the movie doesn't do the other thing that a parody should do: Make fun of the genre's negative aspects through comedy instead of just adding gags to clichéd scenes. As comedies in general go, this one is even less funny than its predecessor. It's also longer and, therefore, boring.
3/10
What a relief that, with JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN, the saga (I think that's the right term, since there's such a big gap between each movie) is back to a more appropriate running time, but it's also back to the visual lazyness. OK, that's a little unfair. The slapstick gags are still presented with wide shots and little cutting. It's in every other moment where the directing, cinematography and editing fall flat. There's also more use of green screen and CGI effects and they don't work. The humour is at an all-time low (not for cinema; just for this trilogy). Rowan's performances in the previous movies had shades of his most popular character and I was OK with that, because it's normal for actors to have a favorite acting style and/or trademarks. This time, from the awkward smiles to the eyebrow movements to the random noises, he's pretty much playing MR. BEAN. There are things in this installment that didn't shock me because they were also present in the previous 2:
-Many gags rely on people not seeing/hearing something that they should be able to see/hear.
-Many gags rely on people witnessing something without intervining, even though they could.
-The villain is about to get away with his evil plan but exposes himself by acting like a jerk, as if he couldn't help it.
-In the 1st movie, ENGLISH said a lot of mean things about French people before learning that the villain was French, so it wasn't justified. In the 2nd movie, ENGLISH asked a guy to carry his stuff not realizing that he was an agent as well (his new sidekick, actually). Is it a coincidence that he has been the only black main character so far? The other characters reacted to this simply as if ENGLISH was being brainless rather than a subconscious racist. In this movie, he's told about a woman who works in the navy and he assumes that she's anything but an officer. When he's told what her rank is, he looks confused. Once again, nothing in the acting, writing or directing indicate that we're supposed to laugh at his blatant sexism, but his cluelessness instead.1/10
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You can read comments of other movies in my blog.
