Johnny English is a 2003 British spy comedy film starring Rowan Atkinson. The film is a parody of the James Bond series, and also lightly borrows from Atkinson's popular Mr Bean character. It was directed by Peter Howitt, written by Bond writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (as well as William Davies) and includes a score composed by Edward Shearmur. It was released in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2003, by Universal Pictures.
The film received mixed to negative reviews, with an approval rating of 33% on Rotten Tomatoes, concluding "a tame spy spoof that elicits infrequent chuckles". Despite this, the film was commercially successful and received two sequels, Johnny English Reborn (2011) and Johnny English Strikes Again (2018).
It received a PG rating from the BBFC, for mild language and comic violence. [1]
Plot[]
Johnny English is a careless, but well-intentioned, desk worker at MI7 who dreams of becoming their top agent. One day, his dreams come true, after Agent One is killed in a submarine accident (the result of English supplying incorrect codes), and the remaining agents die in an explosion at his funeral (of which, English was responsible for security).
After English accidentally throws his coat out of a window and paralyses a secretary with a tranquiliser pen, Pegasus briefs him on his mission. Agent One suspected there was a plot to steal the Crown Jewels, which had recently been restored courtesy of French prison entrepreneur Pascal Sauvage; a distant relative of the royal family, and one of the country's closest allies. Accompanied by his assistant Bough, English travels to the Tower of London, where he discusses with Sir Anthony Chevenix, head of royal security, and meets a mysterious woman named Lorna Campbell, who claims to have worked on the restoration of the jewels. After misidentifying Sauvage as a waiter and insulting him, the tower lights are turned off, and English hastily attacks Chevenix, believing him to be an intruder. When the lights turn back on, English pretends to fight an imaginary assailant to cover his mistake, and discovers the jewels have been stolen.
Providing Pegasus with a false description of an eccentric-looking man, English and Bough set off for the Tower of London, where they discover the jewels were stolen through a hole in the floor (which English doesn't see and nearly falls into). After following the dark tunnel, English and Bough confront German thieves Dieter Klein and Klaus Vendetta, who escape in a hearse after English's gun fails to operate. The two chase after them in a tow truck carrying English's Aston Martin, the result of him parking in a "no parking" bay, but they get away after English chases the wrong hearse and gatecrashes a funeral; Bough pretends he is an escaped lunatic to resolve the situation.
Sauvage is revealed to be Vendetta and Klein's employer, and he informs the thieves that he bugged English's flat, requesting he be eliminated. English and Bough report their findings to Pegasus, who warns them not to involve Sauvage in the investigation. The duo are attacked by Vendetta in an underground car park after English shares his plans to break into Sauvage's headquarters, despite Pegasus' warning. They escape, with Bough suffering injuries after English mistook him for Vendetta; English insists there were "two [of them] at least, possibly four" to cover his mistake. Noticing Campbell's motorcycle, which was also present in the hearse chase, parked outside a YO! Sushi restaurant, English follows her and attempts to uncover her identity; but fails after spitting his sushi out in disgust and getting his tie caught on a conveyor belt, causing chaos and prompting her to leave.
That evening, English and Bough initiate their plan to break into Sauvage's headquarters by parachuting into the building; however, English rejects Bough's navigation system and accidentally lands in the city hospital by mistake. After holding a doctor and numerous nurses hostage, English realises his mistake and reconvenes with Bough. In the correct building, English drugs a security guard with what he believes to be muscle relaxant, and the duo discover an impostor of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has a tattoo on his bottom reading "Jesus is coming, look busy". Further investigations reveal that Sauvage plans to have himself crowned as king, but the two are shortly confronted by Klein. English drugs Klein with what he believes is truth serum, intending to get more information, but is instead stunned to see Klein talking gibberish and collapsing onto Bough; he had got his injections mixed up. He then accidentally drugs himself with the muscle relaxant, telling Bough to take "schlaag", and getting frustrated when Klein is the only person who can understand him. Bough is held gunpoint by two security guards, demanding to know what's wrong with English and Klein, but is saved by Campbell, who helps them flee.
Campbell reveals that she is an Interpol agent who has been tracking Sauvage for months, with every major criminal released from one of his prisons being employed by one of his companies. English insists on alerting Pegasus, before making their presence known to the guard he stabbed with "muscle relaxant". Bough asks him how to get out of the office without being seen, and the trio escape using his directions. English, still mildly under the affect of the drug, crashes Sauvage's party and accidentally assaults the Foreign Secretary, before being suspended by Pegasus.
With English now knowing of his plan, Sauvage scraps the fake Archbishop and instead sends his minions to force the Queen to abdicate, setting the stage clear for his anointment as king. Klein anonymously returns the Crown Jewels to a police station in North London, and Campbell visits English in his apartment, claiming Pegasus has assigned her to the case and asking him to accompany her to his French chateau. After some easy persuasion, the two leave for France, and have a romantic evening in a café.
The two enter Sauvage's chateau, with English travelling up a sewerage pipe, whilst Campbell notices a ladder. After some toilet humour, the two eavesdrop on Sauvage's plan to turn the entirety of England into a prison, but English makes their presence known after accidentally activating a microphone. Undeterred, English attempts to take DVD evidence of Sauvage's plan, but it falls into a tray of discs, and he picks up the wrong one. English and Campbell are surrounded by guards, and they are imprisoned, but not before English attempts to shoot Sauvage - only to find faeces coming out of his gun.
English and Campbell are rescued by Bough, and the three race to stop Sauvage's coronation. English knocks out the chosen bishop for England and takes his place at the ceremony, much to Pegasus' disapproval. English initially tries to remove the Archbishop's plastic face, believing him to be the imposter; when that doesn't work, he reveals his bare bottom to the audience, assuming it would bear the tattoo he previously observed. Undeterred, he orders Bough to play the DVD he stole from Sauvage's chateau, only to find it is bugged surveillance footage of himself dancing and lip-syncing to ABBA's "Does Your Mother Know?" in his underwear. Determined still, English hides from the security guards before swinging down from a wire and taking the crown himself, which causes Sauvage to have a meltdown and shoot at English, making him drop the crown. Seconds before Sauvage's crowning, English falls from the wire and knocks Sauvage off the throne, accidentally getting crowned himself (much to Bough's panic). In his only act as king, he orders Sauvage's arrest and restores the Queen to the throne, requesting only a knighthood.
English and Campbell are seen taking a drive in Southern France. English leans in to kiss Campbell, but accidentally sits on an eject button, causing her to fly out the car. In a mid-credits scene, she's shown landing in a swimming pool, where Bough and a man matching the description of English's "assailant" are also on holiday; they both are reading newspaper articles about English's heroic deeds, and look in shock as Campbell emerges from the water.
Cast[]
- Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English, the clumsy spy
- Ben Miller as Bough, his awkward but loyal assistant
- Natalie Imbruglia as Lorna Campbell, an Interpol agent
- John Malkovich as Pascal Sauvage, a French prison owner and the main antagonist
- Tim Pigott-Smith as Pegasus, the head of MI7
- Kevin McNally as the Prime Minister
- Oliver Ford Davies as the Archbishop of Canterbury
- Douglas McFerran as Klaus Vendetta, one of Sauvage's minions
- Steve Nicholson as Dieter Klein, one of Sauvage's minions
- Rowland Davies as Sir Anthony Chevenix, head of royal security
- Greg Wise as Agent One, MI7's top agent whose death English is responsible
- Tim Berrington as Roger, an MI7 technician who uncovers the identity of the "assailant" at the Tower of London
- Simon Bernstein as the pretend assailant
- Prunella Scales as Queen Elizabeth II
- Tasha de Vasconcelos as the Exotic Woman
- Terence Harvey as the funeral officer
- Nina Young as Pegasus' secretary
- Sam Beazley as the Elderly Man at the Hospital
- Kevin Moore as the doctor
- Faruk Pruti as the truth serum guard
- Jack Raymond as the French reception waiter
- Jenny Galloway as the Foreign Secretary
- Chris Tarrant as the radio announcer
- Trevor McDonald as the newsreader
- James Greene as the Scottish bishop
- Clive Graham as the Welsh bishop
Production[]
In March 2000, Atkinson signed up to star as a 007 spoof, in a film codenamed A Touch of Weevel. [2]
Principal photography commenced in July 2002, shooting for 14 weeks. The film was shot in Shepperton Studios, on location in London and St. Alban's, and the final scene was shot in Monte Carlo, France. [3]
The character of Johnny English himself was based on a similar character Atkinson played called Richard Latham in a series of Barclaycard advertisements. Like English, Latham was also a clumsy MI7 agent, and the character of Bough also originated from the adverts (though played by a different actor, Henry Naylor. Some of the gags from the advertisements were featured in the film, including English misidentifying a waiter and and inadvertently shooting himself with a tranquilliser ballpoint pen.
Filming Locations[]
- The scene in which English and Bough parachute into Sauvage's headquarters was filmed in Canary Wharf
- The coronation scene, though set in Westminster Abbey, were filmed in St. Alban's Abbey
- The exterior and interior of the building English infiltrates in his daydream at the start are Mentmore Towers.
- The exterior and interior of the MI7 headquarters that English gets lost in during the opening credits sequence are Freemasons' Hall in London.
- The scenes in which English and Campbell drive into Dover, Kent to catch a ferry to France were all filmed on location.
- The exterior of Sauvage's French chateau is actually the castle atop St Michael's Mount, Cornwall.
- The scenes in Brompton Cemetery were filmed there.
- Agent One's funeral was filmed at St Michael's Angel Church in Buckinghamshire.
Soundtrack[]
- "A Man for All Seasons" - Composed by Hans Zimmer - Lyrics and Performance by Robbie Williams
- "Theme from Johnny English" - Composed by Howard Goodall
- "Russian Affairs"
- "A Man of Sophistication"
- "Kismet" - Performed by Bond
- "Truck Chase"
- "The Only Ones" - Performed by Moloko
- "Parachute Drop"
- "Pascal's Evil Plan"
- "Theme from Johnny English (Salsa Version)" - Composed by Howard Goodall - Performed by Bond
- "Off the Case"
- "Café Conversation"
- "Into Pascal's Lair"
- "Zadok the Priest" - Performed by Handel
- "Does Your Mother Know?" - Performed by ABBA
- "For England"
- "Riviera Highway"
- "Agent No. 1"