Jason C
Reviewer

      Between testosterone-filled Michael Bay blockbusters, Hollywood's summer slate usually includes a few films based upon popular novels or plays that might not scream for scenes of blood and bullets.
 
      But Johnny English just might be one of the first summer films adapted from a series of commercials.
 
      He might not draw the huge crowds of Mike Myers or the $20 million paycheck of Jim Carrey, but Rowan Atkinson, as Johnny English, is one of this generation's funniest comedians. Sadly, Atkinson is most likely better known in America as a supporting character in the terrible blockbuster “Scooby-Doo” than in his brilliant roles in British television comedies, such as “Mr. Bean” and “Black Adder”.
 
      With a formula similar to “Austin Powers”, it's easy to see why “Johnny English” sounded like an opportunity for Atkinson to increase his popularity in America while solidifying his strong base in Britain. But, despite enormous potential, “Johnny English” will make Atkinson fans long for “Black Adder” and spy spoof fans long for Leslie Nielson's “Spy Hard”, which wasn't a great film but provided many more laughs than “Johnny English”.
 
      Atkinson does his best to make “Johnny English” a fun adventure, but the film just doesn't know what it wants to be. Branded with a parents' approval tag that “Rugrats Go Wild!” failed to earn, the marketing team behind the film must have hoped the “Scooby-Doo” crowd would follow Atkinson into a funny spy adventure reminiscent of “Agent Cody Banks”. On the other hand, jokes are so few and far between that “Die Another Day” and other serious spy films seem to have more humor going for them.
 
      Aside from the full-length “Bean” that became a smash success in Great Britain and performed decently in America, Atkinson has never led a film before. He rises above the terrible writing from screenwriter William Davies, who is known only for penning “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot”. No doubt Davies brought the film its toilet humor straight from the cutting room floor of “Dumb and Dumberer”.
 
      The story of a bumbling secret agent trying to recover the Queen of England's stolen royal jewels isn't captivating enough to hold anyone's attention. And though Natalie Imbruglia, best known as a one-hit wonder with the song "Torn," adds her pretty face to the production, she is given few lines and only a handful of semi-memorable moments. Even veteran actor John Malkovich as a sinister French tycoon is unintentionally laughable with a hard-to-decipher French accent clouding up cheesy dialogue and a long run of jokes about the French.
 
      The fact this film is a mere 88 minutes long shows how little Atkinson has to work with. But there are still plenty of missed opportunities for good jokes that could have made the film seem less like 88 laughless hours.