By: Anna Smith

The bumbling British spy is back. But is it for the better?

What's the story? Disgraced agent Johnny English (Atkinson) returns to MI7 to help investigate a plot to assassinate the Chinese premier. Complications ensue when he learns of a mole in the joint.

What did we think? We won't lie - we did laugh at this silly farce but if you're a rational type, and expecting a Bond-esque scenario, you'll be annoyed. This is most definitely for devout Atkinson fans, the very young or a few hours of light, fun entertaining viewing.

If you've seen the first Johnny English film, you'll know the drill: incompetent but vaguely likable spy manages to offend everyone in sight until finally saving the day, albeit mostly by accident.

Let's be honest, a large part of the franchise's success is Rowan Atkinson: his pratfalls and expressions still raise a giggle and can turn crashingly obvious gags into surprisingly funny ones.

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He gets plenty of opportunity in this gaffe-lead plot as he insults the Prime Minister, assaults his boss's mother, allows assassinations to happen under his nose and generally causes chaos wherever he goes.

There are odd moments when he seems to switch into smooth-guy mode -the one thing this character isn't is consistent. And, admittedly, it's not a particularly coherent plot: there are double crossings, flashbacks and conspiracies that may seem confusing and tiresomely unlikely to adults. But then that's almost the point. This isn't supposed to be a serious spy movie with a flawless plot.

What does help the medicine go down is the cast: both Pike and Anderson are English elegance personified as a behavioural psychologist and head of MI7 respectively (plus points for the equal-opportunities casting there). Although while it's always a pleasure to see Atkinson reunited with Tim McInnerny, who plays a Q-like figure, it does remind you of how superior Blackadder was.

There are some good reworks of 'traditional spy scenes', like a wheelchair chase to replace your standard car chase that's so common in big spy and action movies. And there are small nuances that will draw big laughs from Rowan fans.

Still, kids raised on Bean rather than Blackadder won't know any better.

Verdict: A rambling romp that's supremely silly and sometimes funny.

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