The Biggest Problem
Johnny English.
Does this name sound iconic, as in Austin Powers, Inspector Jacques Clouseau or James Bond?
No, it doesn't. Does it sound like it has a personality? Nope. What about character? Soul? SOMETHING?
John is the MOST over-used name in movie history. Think about it, John Connor, John Rambo, John Matrix, Johnny Five and so forth and so on. I don't know why, but it is. Using this as his first name is already a massive failure.
The last name? Are you kidding me? Is this supposed to even be a name? It sounds more like a language that just reminds you of a confusingly named island or country or whatever.
I am focusing on the name so much, because it reflects the major problem these movies suffer from; the character has no personality.
The second you hear Peter's Clouseau accent and voice, you are reminded what a genius he is, what funny worldview the character has and all that. This character had a personality. So did all the others I mentioned.
You could do the 'Mr. Plinkett'-thing and ask people about Clouseau's personality traits and worldview, then talk about James Bond, Austin Powers, and so on - you'd get a big bunch of very rich and detailed answers.
You would then ask about Johnny English, and all you would probably get is that he resembles Mr. Bean and Black Adder, maybe even Peter Sellers if you are lucky, but that's about it.
Johnny is a reflection of other characters, he is a caricature of a trope, not anything substancial himself. He does not have a unique way of thinking or seeing the world. He does not have different values. He has no interesting personality quirks - heck, you know more about Black Adder, Baldrick and General Melchett and even 'Bob' than you ever find out about Johnny English.
He is just a paint-by-numbers 'bumbling agent' that steals from its betters, but never really delivers. Sure, there are a couple of funny and interesting bits in these movies (have only seen this and the sequel), but it reaches towards like seven different directions, but falls short in each one of them.
This would be fine, if the movie itself was actually good, if the story was truly unique, if the script was a real passion project of someone that wanted to tell a specific story, or... if the character had a discernable personality.
Johnny English has no soul, he's just a 'look at this foolish agent-wannabe, he is going to do something stupid soon, ha ha.. See? He did something stupid, ha ha'-type of a rotated, regurgitated, overly-clichéic non-character without ANYTHING of its own to say. It just says what everyone else has already said, but does it worse than any of them.
This movie isn't bad because other movies are better - this movie is bad, because it can't even compete, it's like it doesn't even try. If it was on par with the others, I would probably be praising it.
But how can it be, when its main lead's only drawing power comes from the ACTOR, not the character? The character is dull, insignifigant and boring, not to mention extremely predictable. There's probably not a toddler in the world that could not predict pretty much all the mistakes Johnny makes in this movie, especially the muscle relaxant stuff and the ring switch. Sigh.
Run-of-the-mill does not even describe it.
How is it that old TV shows, movies, even knock-offs could muster a decent character with personality, but a master of comedy like Rowan Atkinson (whom I respect quite a lot for all sorts of reasons, one being his incredible talent and ability) can't?
If anyone were to tell you to describe Johnny English without talking about Mr. Bean or Black Adder, or referring to other movies or his job or 'aspirations' or sidekick or looks or title, clothes, car, etc.. how would you describe him?
Go on, I will give you five whole minutes to think about it. (Don't 'look it up', just think for yourself)
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Yeah, well.. if you EVER think of anything, you can reply to this post. If not, don't bother. I mean, they didn't, why should you?