Rowan Atkinson returns as Johnny English for the third time, fifteen years since he first portrayed the master of seduction and subterfuge. The Johnny English persona showcases the talents of one of the UK’s finest physical comedians by spoofing the most archetypally British of genre flicks, the Bond film. The first Johnny English delivered on that promise beautifully, giving us gadgets, guns, a woman of impeccable taste, and a spy to root for.

The second, Johnny English Reborn, proved just as amusing as the first, with mountaintop set pieces, a parkour chase ripped straight from Casino Royale, and a vacuum-wielding hitwoman. If the first film was a send-up of the excesses of the Brosnan era, its sequel took delight in lampooning Daniel Craig’s self-serious spy.

And the third in the series, Johnny English Strikes Again – directed by first-timer David Kerr who has worked on many notable British sketch shows and sitcoms – is a worthy addition to this humble franchise. Come and see it if you enjoy light-hearted fun, creative action scenes, physical comedy, and over-the-top Britishness.

When Teddy Walker (Hart) loses his job after blowing up the shop where he works, he asks his best friend Ben to help him get a job as a stockbroker with his investment firm. Although Teddy’s the best salesman he’s ever seen, Ben can’t hire a high school dropout. So Teddy finds himself in night school back at his old high school, along with an eclectic group of misfits who all need to pass the GED exam – a high school diploma equivalent – to reach their particular life goal. Whether any of them can actually pass the exam is an entirely different matter.

Their teacher (played with straight-faced panache by Haddish) makes no bones about the job ahead of her. After bluntly telling Teddy he’s ‘clinically dumb’ she nonetheless refuses defeat, treating her hapless pupil to a volley of hilariously creative and unorthodox methods of motivation.

Fresh from the success of last year’s Girls Trip, director Malcolm D. Lee – reuniting with Haddish, that film’s breakout star – confidently doles out the action and comedy in this snappy and irreverent take on achieving the American dream.