---
title: "Johnny English Strikes Again"
year: 2018
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/johnny-english-strikes-again"
fi1m_id: "johnny-english-strikes-again"
imdb_id: "tt6921996"
tmdb_id: 463272
wikidata_id: "Q35160593"
fi1m_score: 52
critics_score: 42
critics_reviews: 16
published: "2026-10-05T14:55:03.213228+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-05T14:55:11.956769+00:00"
region: "BR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)

Directed by David Kerr · 1h 28m · ClassInd L · Action, Adventure, Comedy

## Identity

Johnny English Strikes Again

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/johnny-english-strikes-again
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** johnny-english-strikes-again
- **IMDb ID:** tt6921996
- **TMDB ID:** 463272
- **Wikidata ID:** Q35160593
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6921996/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/463272, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q35160593

**Fi1m score: 52** · Critics 42 from 16 reviews

*In a sentence:* Rowan Atkinson gets more laughs from a headset than the script gets from espionage

> Rowan Atkinson’s physical comedy earns some laughs, but *Johnny English Strikes Again* has too little else to offer. The spy plot is thin, the technology jokes are tired, and the good routines remain isolated.

## Synopsis

Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) has his licence renewed and faces high-tech opponents with an old-fashioned approach to espionage. His confidence is undiminished, despite his limited understanding of the technology involved. Bough (Ben Miller), Ophelia Bhulatova (Olga Kurylenko), Jason Volta (Jake Lacy) and the Prime Minister (Emma Thompson) are among the people caught up in the mission. English needs to outwit his adversaries, but his own ignorance keeps getting in the way of an assignment that calls for rather more competence than he possesses.

## Review

*Johnny English Strikes Again* is intermittently funny, which is a modest return from a comedy lasting 88 minutes. David Kerr has a reliable asset in Rowan Atkinson, whose commitment to English’s foolishness makes even familiar material briefly worth watching. William Davies’s screenplay asks that performance to cover too much thin plotting and too many predictable jokes. The gaps between the good routines are the trouble.

The performance depends on English never discovering how ridiculous he looks. His confidence has to remain intact while everything else goes wrong, and the physical precision makes that unreasonable certainty amusing even when the situation is familiar. We laughed at the virtual-reality routine, because his wholehearted response to imaginary danger gives the stupidity a clear purpose. For that stretch, David Kerr lets the performer do enough to make an obvious misunderstanding funny without needing to explain the joke.

William Davies’s handling of technology is less assured. The hackers’ pranks with traffic lights and an airport suggest other possibilities: modern systems can fail as spectacularly as English does. Yet the film mostly settles for the easier joke that an old-fashioned spy does not understand new equipment. That supplies a workable routine, but repeating it across a feature makes English’s ignorance increasingly tiresome, particularly when his mistakes are so easy to anticipate.

Emma Thompson’s Prime Minister is welcome partly because she gives the comedy a firmer presence than the jokes deserve. With Ben Miller as Bough and Olga Kurylenko as Ophelia Bhulatova, there is no shortage of performers around whom the writer might build a livelier farce. Instead, the supporting characters have too little comic independence from English. The film repeatedly comes back to his inadequacy, even when another character might have supplied a more interesting interruption.

Cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister and production designer Simon Bowles make the spy-film surroundings respectable enough, but there is little comedy in that respectability. The visual interest remains English’s posture and his stubborn certainty about how he ought to behave. David Kerr is better at giving that foolishness room than at making the espionage itself funny. The staging is cautious for a film whose chief attraction is a man making mistakes, and the surroundings seldom contribute another joke.

Mark Everson’s editing gives the individual routines more shape than the story connecting them. The trouble is not simply pace: shortening the pauses would not supply the missing surprises. Howard Goodall’s music provides energy, but it cannot make a familiar situation feel freshly thought through. At 88 minutes, this ought to be a light diversion. Too often, the routines feel separated by a story that offers little pleasure of its own.

We do not need a spy spoof to offer penetrating thoughts on technology, and broad laughs would be enough if they arrived more regularly. Against that modest standard, this remains a mixed proposition. Admirers of Rowan Atkinson’s physical comedy will find passages worth their attention, though even they may lose interest between them. For a comedy this short, it asks for too much patience.

*Fi1m score 52, published 5 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics find Johnny English Strikes Again tired and short of laughs, though Rowan Atkinson’s physical comedy earns recurring praise. His timing and commitment give even some disappointed reviewers something to enjoy, with the virtual-reality training sequence repeatedly singled out as a comic highlight. The warmer reviews find enough humiliation and slapstick to make the predictable material entertaining, without claiming that the spy spoof has much freshness left.

The divide is chiefly over how far Atkinson can compensate for the writing. Reservations cluster around a flimsy plot, stale spy jokes and an uncertain approach to technology and old-fashioned espionage. The spread runs from modest enjoyment to outright dismissal: HeyUGuys finds the film entertaining despite its underdeveloped ideas, while the Los Angeles Times finds its one-joke approach lifeless. Several mixed reviews occupy the ground between them, reporting real laughs but a dated, uneven film.

## Straight answers

**Is Johnny English Strikes Again worth watching?**

*Johnny English Strikes Again* offers scattered laughs for admirers of Rowan Atkinson’s physical comedy, but we find it too patchy to recommend more broadly and score it 52 out of 100. The virtual-reality routine earns its laughs through Atkinson’s precision; the thin spy plot and repetitive technology jokes make the stretches between good routines feel longer than they should.

**How long is Johnny English Strikes Again, and what is it rated?**

*Johnny English Strikes Again* runs 1h 28m and is rated L by the ClassInd in Brazil. It is an action and adventure film.

**Where can I watch Johnny English Strikes Again in Brazil?**

*Johnny English Strikes Again* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Brazil. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Johnny English Strikes Again compare to OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?**

*Johnny English Strikes Again* is the less sharp spy parody; we recommend [*OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies*](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies) for comedy that makes more of its hero’s prejudices. Atkinson supplies isolated physical routines, while *OSS 117* puts its fool inside a carefully recreated Fifties thriller. Its gags also thin out late, but it offers more for anyone after satire rather than technological mishaps.

**What should I watch after Johnny English Strikes Again?**

After *Johnny English Strikes Again*, try [*OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies*](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies) (2006, Fi1m 76): For a sharper spy parody that makes its hero’s prejudices count. Then [*The Naked Gun*](https://film.one/film/the-naked-gun-from-the-files-of-police-squad) (1988, Fi1m 88): A similarly oblivious lawman, surrounded by a much higher density of jokes.

### Reviews we read (16)

- **RogerEbert.com** (64/100, inferred): The page could not be accessed, so its verdict is unavailable. No praise or complaint from the critic could be verified. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/johnny-english-strikes-again-2018)
- **The New York Times** (64/100, inferred): The blocked page does not reveal the critic’s verdict. It also provides no praise or complaint to summarize. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/movies/johnny-english-strikes-again-review.html)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (3/5): O'Sullivan finds the film daft and predictable but says its comedy still prompts guffaws. She particularly praises Rowan Atkinson's committed physical performance and the carefully observed buffoonish character. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/johnny-english-strikes-again-review-daft-but-you-cant-stifle-your-guffaws-a3954151.html)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (60/100, inferred): Ebiri finds the film mildly entertaining, though not sharp or funny enough to fulfill its potential. He praises its steady stream of humiliation comedy and the heavy-handed symbolism of English battling high-tech villains in knight’s armor. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/movie-review-johnny-english-strikes-again.html)
- **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (C): The critic finds the film mildly watchable but largely unsuccessful, with its parody and technology jokes failing to catch fire. They single out the VR training sequence as a funny highlight that recalls Mr. Bean’s sly malice. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/johnny-english-strikes-again-continues-the-mild-adventu-1829897526)
- **Little White Lies**, Caitlin Quinlan (2/2/1): Quinlan finds the sequel tediously unfunny and its central character stiflingly ignorant. She singles out the hackers’ traffic-light and airport pranks as among its few funny moments. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/johnny-english-strikes-again)
- **Radio Times**, Terry Staunton (2/5): The critic finds the film overly reliant on slapstick, with a flimsy plot linking predictable set pieces. Emma Thompson is singled out for bringing a touch of class. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-llqev5/johnny-english-strikes-again/)
- **Screen Daily**, Sarah Ward (30/100, inferred): The critic describes this third outing as a tired franchise entry. The page singles out Rowan Atkinson’s return as the hapless secret agent, without providing further review details. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/johnny-english-strikes-again-review/5132706.article)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the comedy underpowered and the film only moderately entertaining. He praises Atkinson’s physical comedy, especially a gag involving a medieval suit of armour and helicopter blades. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/30/johnny-english-strikes-again-review-underpowered-rowan-atkinson-spy-spoof)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (30/100, inferred): Gleiberman finds the sequel mildly amusing but largely stale, with its comedy weakened by the need to function as a spy film. He praises the virtual-reality sequence in which Johnny, still wearing a headset, attacks imaginary villains around London. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/johnny-english-strikes-again-review-rowan-atkinson-1202952089/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Derek Smith (1/4): The critic finds the film lifeless, unimaginative, and reliant on stale spy-film jokes. They single out the virtual-reality sequence as a welcome burst of anarchic energy amid otherwise uninspired humor. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/johnny-english-strikes-again/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (10/100, inferred): Walsh finds the sequel limp, lifeless and not entertaining. She singles out its one-joke writing and muddled attitude toward Bond-era traditions and technology. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-mini-johnny-english-strikes-again-review-20181025-story.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Stephen Dalton (10/100, inferred): Dalton finds the sequel flat, mirthless, and short on comic inspiration. He notes that the restaurant and virtual-reality slapstick sequences might amuse younger children, but says the rest is a waste of time. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/johnny-english-strikes-again-review-1148153/)
- **HeyUGuys** (70/100, inferred): The review finds the film entertaining despite its tired premise and underdeveloped ideas. It particularly praises Rowan Atkinson’s comic timing and physical comedy. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/johnny-english-strike-again-review/)
- **Den of Geek**, Catherine Pearson (3/5): Pearson finds the film funny but out of place and ultimately tired. She praises Atkinson’s physical comedy and the genuine laughs, while criticizing the scattered plot and dated feel. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/johnny-english-strikes-again-review-a-funny-but-out-of-place-physical-romp/)
- **The Wrap** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel disappointingly stale and reliant on easy jokes. They single out Atkinson’s virtual-reality scene as the film’s best gag. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/johnny-english-strikes-again-film-review-rowan-atkinson/)

## Details

- **Director:** David Kerr
- **Director:** David Kerr
- **Writer:** William Davies
- **Cinematography:** Florian Hoffmeister
- **Editor:** Mark Everson
- **Music:** Howard Goodall
- **Production design:** Simon Bowles
- **Costume design:** Annie Hardinge
- **Producer:** Tim Bevan, Chris Clark, Eric Fellner
- **Cast:** Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English; Olga Kurylenko as Ophelia Bhulatova; Ben Miller as Bough; Emma Thompson as Prime Minister; Jake Lacy as Jason Volta; Adam James as Pegasus; Charles Dance as Agent Seven; Michael Gambon as Agent Five
- **Runtime:** 1h 28m
- **Certificate (ClassInd):** L
- **Release (Brazil):** 1 November 2018
- **Genres:** Action, Adventure, Comedy
- **Budget:** $25 million
- **Box office:** $159 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__c_SVavGF4

## Where to watch in Brazil

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on

*Checked 2026-10-05.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IL, IN, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PH, PL, PT, RO, SE, SG, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Pink Panther* (1963): Another elaborately confident incompetent, with more room for mistakes to develop.
- *The Man Who Knew Too Little* (1997): An innocent abroad mistakes espionage for entertainment, with rather better comic complications.
- *OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies* (2006), Fi1m 76: For a sharper spy parody that makes its hero’s prejudices count. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies.md)
- *The Accidental Spy* (2001): More vigorous action for those who enjoy espionage with an unprepared participant.
- *The Naked Gun* (1988), Fi1m 88: A similarly oblivious lawman, surrounded by a much higher density of jokes. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-naked-gun-from-the-files-of-police-squad.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/johnny-english-strikes-again