So, the third of this odd franchise just came out in my neck of the world. It's a comedy staring Rowan Atkinson as a spy. Apparently, this was a bit he did for some commercials in the 90s that they later made into some movies.
I'm wondering how popular these films are for my UK cousins who probably keep tabs on Atkinson more than I do. The first came out in 2003, then there was this long gap of 8 years before the next hit. Now, there's a third movie another 7 years later.
This series has weird shifts in tone. The first felt like an excuse for Atkinson to do Bean gags in a spy setting. He's a bumbling goofball that winds up being crowned king of England by the end after fighting John Malkovich. It was terrible. I gave the second film a shot, 'cause why not? I enjoyed it way more. Had a sharper tone and Atkinson changed up his character to be more competent and suave while still being humorous. Plus, Dan Kaluuya shows up as his sidekick, which was a welcome surprise.
I watched the third this past weekend and was disappointed to find it was closer in tone to the first installment than the second. JE is back to being a mostly incompetent idiot after the first 20 minutes where he's a cool school teacher. If you're gonna watch any of these, just stick to the second. They're barely related to each other that each one feels like a reboot of sorts.
Does anyone else know about this weird franchise?
Oblig trailer:
I'm wondering how popular these films are for my UK cousins who probably keep tabs on Atkinson more than I do. The first came out in 2003, then there was this long gap of 8 years before the next hit. Now, there's a third movie another 7 years later.
This series has weird shifts in tone. The first felt like an excuse for Atkinson to do Bean gags in a spy setting. He's a bumbling goofball that winds up being crowned king of England by the end after fighting John Malkovich. It was terrible. I gave the second film a shot, 'cause why not? I enjoyed it way more. Had a sharper tone and Atkinson changed up his character to be more competent and suave while still being humorous. Plus, Dan Kaluuya shows up as his sidekick, which was a welcome surprise.
I watched the third this past weekend and was disappointed to find it was closer in tone to the first installment than the second. JE is back to being a mostly incompetent idiot after the first 20 minutes where he's a cool school teacher. If you're gonna watch any of these, just stick to the second. They're barely related to each other that each one feels like a reboot of sorts.
Does anyone else know about this weird franchise?
Oblig trailer:
