6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A spoof spy thriller. During the course of the story we follow our hero as he attempts to single-handedly save the country from falling into the hands of a despot.
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Ben Miller, Oliver Ford DaviesComedy | 100% |
Action | 35% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
D-Box
Mobile features
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
As hard as it may be for some of us to understand, Rowan Atkinson is evidently an acquired taste. This fussy, mannered comic actor, who with his pop eyes resembles something akin to another version of Marty Feldman, drives some people crazy with his tic filled performances, while others (myself among them) find him more often than not hilarious. For every fan of Blackadder or Mr. Bean or indeed Johnny English there is an equal and opposite derider claiming that these efforts, and Atkinson in particular, are lackluster and even worthless. So to all the Atkinson haters (or at least dislikers) out there, make no mistake about it: you won’t like much if anything about Johnny English, a project tailor made for Atkinson’s patented blend of buffoonery and grimacing facial expressions. And it must be admitted that even for Atkinson fans, Johnny English is probably not as funny as might have been hoped for, with a screenplay that tries too hard to be clever in spoofing the eminently spoofable James Bond franchise, an idea that American audiences experienced a generation (or two) before Johnny English hit the big screen with the inspired Mel Brooks – Buck Henry series Get Smart! (the less said about the Steve Carell film reboot of that series, the better), and which international audiences had flocked to with Mike Myers’ ultra-silly Austin Powers trilogy just a few years ago. Atkinson’s shtick has more often than not been built around a persona of a bumbling idiot who wreaks havoc on everything around him, but who of course remains clueless to his inherent incompetence and just keeps soldiering through, usually somehow to an improbably happy ending. And that for the most part sums up Johnny English, albeit with a bunch of spy gizmos thrown in for good measure.
Johnny English is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a nicely sharp and well detailed high definition presentation that offers excellent and pleasing fine detail, decently saturated and accurate looking (if not very robust) colors and an overall natural filmic look. The transfer offers great clarity, especially in some of the outdoor locations (which also sport nice depth of field), though in a couple of key sequences shadow detail is negligible (perhaps intentional, as things are playing out in darkened environments).
Johnny English features a wonderfully bombastic lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that provides sterling fidelity and some nice and consistent surround activity. The soundtrack here is a whirlwind of often very fun foley effects. There is a jolt of LFE early in the film that will probably startle a lot of viewers, and the film then goes on to provide some other great sound effects, like the whizzing zoom of a tranquilizer dart that exits the pen Johnny stupidly plays with in an MI7 office. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly and the score (including the theme song sung by Robbie Williams) also sounds great.
Johnny English is a decidedly mixed bag and viewer reactions are probably going to be split along "like him or loathe him" lines with regard to Rowan Atkinson. Those who hate the mugging actor will probably want to stay far away from this film, as it offers little else to recommend it other than Atkinson's peculiarly unique performing style. Those who have a fondness for this bug eyed, weirdly grimacing little man (and I count myself among that group) will probably be more tolerant of the film's shortcomings since Atkinson is so winning, if intentionally annoying, as Johnny. The film is a hit or miss assemblage of gags, with a lot falling flat, but others being quite good and guffaw worthy. John Malkovich as the villain is just plain weird, which actually might be a calling card for a certain class of viewer. This Blu-ray offers good video and superior audio, but those other than rabid Atkinson fans will probably want to check this out as a rental before committing to a purchase.
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