Eight years since his last mission, Rowan’s Atkinson superspy returns in a cleaner, funnier adventure. Wisely sticking to Bondian parody rather than jump on any Bourne bandwagon, the movie gets off to a strong start as English finds himself at a Tibetan hideaway, dragging boulders by his balls and losing concentration on hot coals.
As the movie sets English on a proper mission to thwart the murder of the Chinese premier, there are big expensive gags — a skit on free running set-pieces works well, a helicopter chase that cleaves to the motorway less so — but better on smaller, simpler gags, the best involving an office chair. It is also strong reminder how funny Atkinson is, both physically and verbally — he can make the word “vole” a punchline. Still you can’t escape the overwhelming feeling that his huge talent might be served somewhere else.
