This has a similar vibe to the first movie, but is arguably more ridiculous. (Is that possible?) I feel like the gags aren’t quite as effective, or fresh, this time around. I still enjoyed myself, but the returns are diminishing.

As I said, the sequel is arguably more ridiculous than the first film, if that’s even possible. Though this film still has plenty of gags to help us through how over-the-top and unbelievable everything is, there is a strong sense of deju vu. It does help to move some of the action to the States, to have an American version, but it only helps so much. (The stunt casting is fun, though. Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson with seven lines of dialogue.)

The first film felt like it was commenting, at times, on many of the silly spy films that have come before it, there were some gags and references that felt like the film was really aware of the long history of (sillier) British spy movies. But this film has less of that (or at least I caught less of it). That was one of the appeals of the original.

I’m still happy to watch these movies. I enjoy them in their ridiculousness and their hyper stylization. I’d much rather watch this than a lot of other movies, even if it doesn’t really have the freshness of the original film.

6/10