'Johnny English Sequel' Is An Ode To Low-Tech Charm

There’s nothing really new or fresh or bold in “Johnny English Strikes Again,” the third installment of Rowan Atkinson’s bumbling-spy saga/James Bond spoof.

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And for some of us, maybe that’s not such a terrible thing. Sometimes you don’t want the hip new cocktail. Sometimes you just want the same beer at the same temperature at the same time in the same comfy chair. (Especially these days, perhaps, but we digress.)

So when Atkinson’s Johnny, on the run in a Scottish castle, winds up in a room of decorative suits of armor, you start chuckling preemptively. Because of course you know he’s going to hide in one of those suits, and of course you know he’s going to have a massively difficult time staying upright, and, well ... it’ll be funny. Not innovative or thought-provoking, and certainly not snarky or biting. Just funny.

If that’s not enough, we also have Emma Thompson as the British prime minister. Thompson as anything at all would be a plus, but watching her channel her inner Maggie Thatcher — and mix in a little Theresa May — may have you immediately bemoaning the fact she only got to play a prime minister’s SISTER in “Love Actually.” What a waste!