The 3rd Entry in an Interminable Spy Franchise Gears up on Streaming

Consistency is key when it comes to sustaining any long-running franchise with dreams of carrying momentum through multiple installments, but Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English went about it in the most frustrating and interminable way possible.

Each of the three films in the series performed almost identically among critics and at the box office, but that’s hardly a glowing compliment when the bar was set so low. Johnny English, Johnny English Reborn, and Johnny English Strikes Again secured respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 33, 38, and 37 percent, which is some way away from widespread praise.

And yet, because none of the trio cost more than $40 million to produce and netted almost exactly $160 million apiece during their theatrical runs, we ended up with a trilogy you’d be completely forgiven for forgetting even existed, never mind one that ran for 15 years from beginning to end.

Frivolous espionage antics and paper-thin attempts at parody are clearly the order of the day on-demand, though, seeing as Johnny English Strikes Again has geared up and infiltrated the global most-watched rankings on not one, but two competing streaming platforms.

Per FlixPatrol, the third and hopefully final outing for the titular buffoon has ranked on iTunes and ViaPlay midway through the week, and we’ll be nervously keeping our eyes peeled to see if either of its predecessors winds up making a dash for renewed glory among the at-home audience, despite the consistent inconsistency that defined the middle-of-the-road comedy triptych throughout its needlessly lengthy existence.

Consistency is key when it comes to sustaining any long-running franchise with dreams of carrying momentum through multiple installments, but Rowan Atkinson’s Johnny English went about it in the most frustrating and interminable way possible.

Each of the three films in the series performed almost identically among critics and at the box office, but that’s hardly a glowing compliment when the bar was set so low. Johnny English, Johnny English Reborn, and Johnny English Strikes Again secured respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 33, 38, and 37 percent, which is some way away from widespread praise.

And yet, because none of the trio cost more than $40 million to produce and netted almost exactly $160 million apiece during their theatrical runs, we ended up with a trilogy you’d be completely forgiven for forgetting even existed, never mind one that ran for 15 years from beginning to end.

Frivolous espionage antics and paper-thin attempts at parody are clearly the order of the day on-demand, though, seeing as Johnny English Strikes Again has geared up and infiltrated the global most-watched rankings on not one, but two competing streaming platforms.

Per FlixPatrol, the third and hopefully final outing for the titular buffoon has ranked on iTunes and ViaPlay midway through the week, and we’ll be nervously keeping our eyes peeled to see if either of its predecessors winds up making a dash for renewed glory among the at-home audience, despite the consistent inconsistency that defined the middle-of-the-road comedy triptych throughout its needlessly lengthy existence.