Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
By: ZZ   

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a surprising huge success, spawning and unstoppable franchise and a plethora of quotable lines. Now comes the sequel-- wittily titled The Spy Who Shagged Me-- and while it is missing a certain amount of joy that made the first one so infectiously sweet, nonetheless this labor of love manages to be crafty and (sometimes) hilariously funny.
    In the opening sequence, Austin (the incomparable Mike Myers) discovers to his dismay that his partner and recent bride Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley in a hilarious cameo that displays more of her range than her entire role in the first one) is actually a Fem-bot, an enticing female robot created to kill our hero. However, immediately after his dismay disappears, he is delighted to find that he is single again-- and trots around naked in his hotel to an opening credit sequence that is to die for. Later, of course, it is revealed that Austin's boss, Basil Exposition (Michael York), knew about her treachery all along, although he never does explain why.
    Then, the delirious Dr. Evil (also played by Myers, this character is the best in the franchise) travels back in time to 1969, and, with the help of a 700-pund Scottish assassin named Fat Bastard (who else? Myers), steals Austin Powers's mojo. This, of course, is his libido, what makes him sexually aggressive. Austin is temporarily defeated by this tragic turn of events, but he travels back to '69 anyway. He is delighted that he is back in the swinging sixties, and things get even better when he gets help in the form of sexy CIA agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham, who is indeed very shagadelic). Together, they get into some great messes while trying to save the world from Dr. Evil yet again.
    This sequel is bursting with pop culture references. Some are amusing (Star Wars), some are hysterically funny, (upon seeing that Dr. Evil's new hideout is in that tall Seattle building-- but with the word STARBUCKS written across it-- I laughed until I cried) and some just fall flat (Jerry Springer). The film is also aided by even better performances from some of the returning characters. Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Seth Green makes another memorable impression as Dr. Evil's reality-grounded yet alienated son, Scott. The fantastic Mindy Sterling returns as sourpuss Frau Farbissina who, halfway through the movie-- in an outrageous turn of events-- becomes Dr. Evil's love slave. And Dr. Evil, of course, is that adorable neurotic we all came to love.
    Better still are some of the new additions. Unlike Elizabeth Hurley's sleep-inducing performance from the first film (she looked like she was reading from cue cards), Heather Graham is an appealing heroine and looks very foxy in those macrame outfits. But the best of the new players is Verne J. Troyer, a 2-foot-8-inch actor who plays Mini-Me, a clone one-eighth of the size of Dr. Evil. Wordlessly mimicing every one of Dr. Evil's catchy gesture (including that infamous pinky-to-the-mouth move), Troyer is sure to be a hit with audiences.
    Yet in spite of all the witty pop-culture references and other bonuses, the first film is definitely funnier and more intelligent, simply because it lived in a brilliant little world of its own. By adding all of those, the film is letting the real world invade its fortress, and the deliriously giddy fantasy land starts to break down. Something else that does not help the movie whatsoever is the lack of joy that I mentioned at the beginning of this review. While it is obvious that the cast and crew had fun making this film, some of the jokes feel strained and unnecessary (odd, considering that supposedly 40 percent of the film is improvised), an obvious sign that they had less fun making this film than the first one. And for a film like this, you need that feeling of love for it to work.

Grade: B