JOHNNY ENGLISH 4: AGENT IN THE DARK
In an era of AI-driven espionage, biometric security, and invisible cyber-warfare, the world needs a spy who can navigate the digital age. Unfortunately, the world is getting Johnny English. Starring the legendary Rowan Atkinson in his iconic role, Johnny English 4: Agent in the Dark (2026) is a high-stakes comedy-adventure that proves that sometimes, the only way to beat a sophisticated machine is with a completely unpredictable human. Directed by Taika Waititi, this film blends the series’ signature slapstick with a sharp satire of modern tech culture.
I. The Analog Anomaly
The film opens with a sophisticated cyber-attack that wipes out the digital records of every active field agent in the UK. MI7’s cloud servers are compromised, and their high-tech gadgets are being remotely detonated. The “Intelligence” in Military Intelligence has been hacked.
The Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant in a self-deprecating cameo) demands an agent who is “off the grid.” Naturally, they find Johnny English, who is currently living in a remote lighthouse, attempting to master the “art of the carrier pigeon” because he forgot his email password in 2012. He is the only man the hackers can’t find—because he has no digital footprint whatsoever.
II. The Ultimate Femme Fatale: Angelina Jolie
As Johnny is “reactivated” (which involves him accidentally macing himself with a pen he thought was a laser), he is introduced to his new handler. Angelina Jolie stars as Agent Vespera Storm, a hyper-competent, lethal, and stone-faced operative from Interpol.
The chemistry between Atkinson and Jolie is the film’s comedic goldmine. Jolie plays the “Straight Man” to the absolute extreme. While she performs a 360-degree tactical reload during a firefight, Johnny is struggling to figure out how to open a high-tech “smart door” that requires a thumbprint he accidentally covered in marmalade.
Vespera: “English, I’ve worked with assassins, dictators, and mercenaries. But you… you are a biological weapon of pure chaos.”
Johnny: (Adjusting his tie while his sleeve is on fire) “Thank you, Vespera. Precision is my middle name. Johnny Precision English.”
III. The Return of the Legend: Bough
No Johnny English adventure is complete without Bough (Ben Miller). Now promoted to a desk job, Bough risks his pension to join Johnny on one last rogue mission. Bough remains the only person on the planet who truly believes Johnny is a genius.
The trio—the Clueless (Johnny), the Competent (Vespera), and the Loyal (Bough)—travel to a tech-summit in Monaco. Their target: Silas Volts (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), a billionaire tech-guru who plans to launch a “Global Peace App” that secretly installs a backdoor into every government’s defense system.
IV. High-Tech vs. No-Tech
The middle act is a series of classic English blunders elevated by modern technology:
The VR Mission: Johnny is tasked with a virtual reality training simulation. He becomes so immersed that he accidentally wanders out of the MI7 building, crosses a busy London intersection, and defeats a “boss” that turns out to be a very confused street performer in a robot costume.
The Tesla Chase: During a high-speed chase in a self-driving car, Johnny accidentally engages “Dog Mode,” causing the car to stop and play soothing music while the villains escape.
The Stealth Infiltration: Attempting to use a “chameleon suit” that renders the wearer invisible, Johnny accidentally sets it to “Disco Mode,” strobe-lighting his way through a dark hallway filled with guards.
V. The Climax: The Cloud Fortress
The finale takes place on Silas Volts’ private island, a “Floating Cloud” server farm held aloft by massive turbines. Silas’s security is entirely automated—lasers, drones, and AI-turrets.
Vespera and Bough are captured by a sophisticated hacking protocol. It’s up to Johnny to save them. Because Silas’s AI is designed to predict logical human movement, it is completely baffled by Johnny English. The AI tries to calculate Johnny’s tactical path, but Johnny doesn’t have a tactical path. He trips over a power cable, falls into a ventilation shaft, and accidentally spills a “Super-Sized” soda onto the main mainframe.
In a spectacular display of “English-Luck,” his clumsy attempts to fix the spill result in him accidentally typing the “Self-Destruct” code while trying to find a YouTube tutorial on “how to dry a wet keyboard.”
VI. The Accidental Hero
The island begins to tilt. Vespera and Bough escape as Johnny accidentally paraglides to safety using a giant “I Heart Monaco” banner. Silas Volts is arrested when Johnny “mistakenly” tweets a confession from Silas’s own account while trying to take a selfie.
The film ends at Buckingham Palace. Johnny is being knighted (again). As the Queen lowers the sword, Johnny sneezes, causing him to duck, and the sword accidentally slices the ribbon on a nearby ceremonial cake.
Johnny English (Voiceover): “A spy’s life is one of shadows, secrets, and the occasional dry-cleaning bill. They say the world is changing. But as long as there are villains with complicated plans, there will be a man with a complicated tie to stop them.”
The final shot is Johnny walking away with Vespera, who has finally cracked a smile. He tries to lean coolly against his classic Aston Martin, but the door handle comes off in his hand. He tosses it over his shoulder, gets in, and drives away as the iconic theme music swells.
