When Johnny English Reborn hit a couple of years ago I had rollickingly good time. The film was certainly flawed, but that didn't matter because it was incredibly hilarious, once again mixing together the light Bond (and now Bourne) satire with Rowan Atkinsons gift for funny faces. General consensus was a lot more cynical, the healthy profit juxtaposed with a lukewarm welcome from audiences and critics. I may have been more predisposed to liking Reborn because I really liked the first Johnny English too. In fact, it was only around the time of the sequels release that, to my shock, I learnt it wasn't well regarded in the slightest. Theres clearly an element of fondly remembered teenage experiences, but popping in the old VHS now still had me chuckling along. Its broad and simplistic, but when something is genuinely funny does that matter? Much of the distaste with the film is that its a less ridiculous take on a genre already fully lambasted by Austin Powers and while theres no denying Mike Myers had already covered Bond to some depth, his films were much more focused on the classic Connery era and the increasingly camp of Moore. Johnny English had its eye on more recent events; the first film feels very much like the Brosnan movies while Reborn was mocking the grittiness of Casino Royale.