Nigel is brilliant in 'Yes, Minister', very good in 'Yes, Prime Minister' (remember the COMMA, for crying out loud!).
In this movie, however, he doesn't come off as the powerful, super intelligent, manipulative mastermind of political provess as he does in the TV shows. He's an amazingly interesting personality and eloquently masterful verbalizer with a clear vision and deep understanding of power structures and how to utilize them to reach that vision.
In the movie, he's just an old guy who tries to get someone killed so he can gain total control of the world. It's not quite the same, he's lacking so much here. He seems weak, tired, almost incompetent - why would he not make sure NO ONE can kill him, only Phoenix? Humphrey would NEVER make that kind of mistake, it's too obvious an oversight.
He's also WAY more subtle in the TV show, pulling strings from the shadows, while appearing to be just a humble public servant at the same time. He's a master of avoiding giving minister the answer the minister desperately wants, especially when the minister doesn't know what question to ask.
This kind of stuff doesn't happen in this movie - and he has no one to play off of, as Phoenix is just basically a thug, and the servant is just a spineless turd. Nigel is brilliant, but his character is this movie leaves much to be desired, especially if you love "Yes, Minister" or "Yes, Prime Minister" (where they couldn't resist the temptation to suddenly conjure a fema-fascist hag to be superior to Humphrey in every way, because women can't be shown to be incompetent"..)
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