Tag Archives: spy

Haywire 3.5/5

Haywire

Rather good action-spy flick, owing more to 24 and Bourne than Bond, but also very, very reminiscent of late 60s and 70s downbeat spy dramas, like The Ipcress File. The music, filming style, and even the clothing evoked this spirit.

This was in essence an arthouse-action movie, with lots of stylistic sizzle, but some really great, painful-looking fight scenes. Gina Carano was pretty good, and while I spent much of the running time confused about what was going on, it resolved nicely by the end, and Mallory Kane made a good, tough lady-spy.

Johnny English – Family-friendly Bond-spoof with solid laughs and sight gags 3.25/5

Johnny English (2003)

Likeable, old-fashioned (in a good way) pastiche of James Bond, starring the man with the most expressive face ever, Rowan Atkinson. It’s fun, there’s reasonable laughs all the way through, and there’s even some quite good stuntwork (a car chase with a lorry and a hearse).

A lot of the jokes involve English making a major gaff such as treating an innocent party of funeral mourners as criminals, accidentally knocking out a secretary with a pen-dart, and so on. He is the spy equivalent of Inspector Clouseau (the difference being he is aware of his own gaffs, and tries to hide them – Clouseau is not clever enough for that). There’s also a lot of sight gags, so younger children can enjoy.

Plus you have to love that the bad guy is French.

OVERALL: 6.5/10
Rewatchability: Every few years
Age Suitability: All members of family can watch and enjoy.