Wacky, wacky movie. Not too bad. It lacked a smooth plot but Rowan Atkinson's antics were often fun to watch and created many laughs. The romantic part seemed thrown in at the last minute, John Malkovich's french villain never seemed too threatening, and the end made little sense yet so much sense at the same time. Of course the British would love to see a French guy nearly become their king but end up in jail instead, right? A lot of the movie focused on the Johnny English/Agent Bough partnership, and those often provided the best parts in the movie. Many times, it seemed that Bough, the number 2 man, was the more competent of the two. Of course, that was intentional and tend to make both fun and funny.
Grade: B

What I liked was that Malkovich was INTENTIOANLLY over the top.

If I recall correctly, Queen Elizabeth is actually left-handed. In the movie, she signs the paper with her right hand. Just a little nit. I also noticed that there was some confusion over time-zones. If it's daytime in England, it won't also be bright in the Australian outback (I think that this occurred during the coronation).

Really a "Meh" movie for me. Some good points, but can we get a plot doctor in here? Oy.

First of all, they never really tried to elevate the humor beyond the initial premise of "Johnny English screws up." The one-note idea is okay if you've got a good idea and you execute it well, but here, it eventually becomes über-tiring. You know that he's going to tackle his partner's legs instead of the bad guy's. You know he's going to land on the wrong building. You know he's going to pick up the wrong DVD. The movie fails to follow any of these predictable plot points with genuinely fresh material. Bleh.

Add to this the fact that the Solvage's (sp?) Plan B seemed to be infinitely less-complex and more profitable than his Plan A. His Plan A, truthfully, was pretty darn cool, with the theft and body-switching and what not. It was complex and was satisfying to see as English tried to unravel it. But if it was so easy to get to the Queen and force her to abdicate, why did they need Plan A in the first place?

And before his coronation, Solvage manages to get to France to hold a meeting with criminal masterminds? Wouldn't they be watching this guy like a hawk? Wouldn't this raise suspicions? Sigh.

Like I said, a "Meh" moive.

Agree, "meh." I saw it on a cheap matinee ticket with an audience of about six. There are some funny moments, sure, but the film doesn't have the guts to go all out with its humor (the scene at the funeral, for instance--my friends and I came up with our own resolution that was infinitely funnier). And John Malkovich seemed to be acting in a different movie than the other cast.

Best Part: Bough!

I saw this in the theatre, and I really liked it. Recently I bought the DVD, and I enjoyed it a great deal! Rowan was hilarious, Natalie was gorgeous, John was deliciously despicable (and despisable!)

But here's something that I think definetly needs to be clarified about the ending. It concerns the news report read by Trevor McDonald that Sauvage was being sentenced to death, and his brain would be donated to science in order to further study criminals with (some kind of) schizoprenia. It was said that's what would be happening because Sauvage was accused of the crime of high treason, "still punishable by death under UK law".

However, that whole thing's a lot of hooey! The following debunkment of the above was clearly stated on the IMDB under "Goofs" for "Johnny English". (and I quote):

"Anachronisms: On July 31st, 1998, high treason and piracy with violence ceased to be capital crimes. On January 27th, 1999, The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, formally signed the 6th protocol of the European Convention of Human Rights in Strasbourg, on behalf of the British government formally abolishing the death penalty in the U.K."

OK, OK, I didn't know this when I first saw this flick. I didn't find it, I didn't come up with it myself. And I know that nitpicking on this site is supposed to just be consisting of the information that you find yourself, and information that the creators consider canonical. So, have I violated the Nitpicker's Prime Directive with this one? Or is listing nits, or "Goofs", as it were, from other sources legit, or what?

BTW, that Natalie is incredibly babealicious, and a decent actress, but a mediocre pop singer, IMHO. Real life-wise, I just don't see her being in any way interested in somebody like Rowan, who's big-nosed and homely, and twenty years older than her to boot!

Anyway, in real life, she married Daniel Johns of Silverchair, five years her junior. As for the grunge-rock group (is that still a genre in music in the 21st Century?) I believe they are just about out of time, and pretty much washed up, as far as their music career is concerned.

But hey, if they come out with a new album, I'll probably give it a listen, and I'll also be the first one to admit I was wrong!

Lastly, about this movie, did anybody notice the babe-band Bond performing at (one of the) parties? I just barely caught a glance of them, but I recogized their music.

Well, I think I'm done here for this movie. Final note about Rowan's career in general: He should have kept "Mr. Bean" strictly British. The "Americanization" of the character i.e. the 1997 movie, was a total abomination, IMHO!

I really liked the carchase and the corination sceene.

"I wish this st*pid little country would would do what their told to do for one more day."

I use that quote at work from time to time.