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