AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME RATING: 7 / 10 --> Good movie
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Okay, so I was a little distracted by the fact that I had Jacques Villeneuve, Formula I race car driver, snuggling up to his better half a few rows behind me in the theatre, but once the groovy tunes sounded off, the colorful characters jumped on-screen and Austin Powers blasted into his all-familiar mojo fever, there was no denying that the 60s were back, and this shagadelic sequel had begun!
PLOT: Dr. Evil time-travels back to the 1960s to steal Austin Powers' mojo (His essence, his aura, his libido, if you will). With the absence of his horny spirit, Austin loses focus and must also return to the 60s in order to regain his essence.
CRITIQUE: Clever, witty, enjoyable, fun and almost as fresh and original as the first one, save for a few redundancies which didn't click and Heather Graham who was not as interesting as Elizabeth Hurley in the original (although her outfits are simply smashing!), this movie will definitely satisfy all Austin/Dr. Evil lovers and guarantee a solid box-office summer for Myers and crew. This movie starts off with a bang, as the first 20 minutes deliver some of the film's funnier moments (The whole Jerry Springer sequence cracked me up). It also seemed as though they put more emphasis on the Dr. Evil character in this follow-up, which was all fine with me, cause I personally found him to be more entertaining than Austin in the first place. Nevertheless, kudos go out to Mike Myers once more for pulling off plenty of smart one-liners, movie homages galore, and tossing a couple of new characters into the mix. Mini-me, a midget Dr. Evil, seemed to be the biggest crowd pleaser, and the Fat Bastard (Myers under 80 pounds of latex fat), who I could've done without, save for one hilarious scene in bed with a female spy.
A couple of other things which didn't truly delight me were the Austin Powers dancing segues between scenes, which seem forced and self-indulgent, and the song and dance numbers in the film, which appeared to be nothing more than time-fillers. But on the whole, this movie is funny and will have you cracking up at Dr. Evil's father/son silly banter, Mini-me's fight with Austin, the multitude of sexual overtures delivered by Austin, and the overall enthusiasm of the entire ride down the 60s free-wheeling, all-loving shagfest. Folks who did not enjoy the first film, will undoubtedly scoff at this sequel, which plot-wise, does even less than its predecessor. But for all of you who enjoyed the first movie for what is was, a goofy, original, over-the-top spy parody, chances are that you will most certainly enjoy the bulk of this film, with its re-occurring characters (and jokes, at times), Myers' fantastic performance as Evil and Powers, its fun loving, self-deprecating attitude, and all the kitchy goodness that you could stuff inside of ninety minutes of groovy cinema. Now does that make you horny?
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Cameos galore in this one as well (Don't read further, if you don't want to know who they are). Tim Robbins plays the President of the United States of America, Woody Harrelson shows up as, well, a character named Woody, and Kristen Johnston plays some husky Russian babe, Ivanna Humpalot. Clint Howard, Ron Howard's brother, also returns as the radar operator. Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, Rebecca Romjin-Stamos and Jerry Springer also show up as themselves. The actor playing Mini-me is named Verne Troyer. He is 32 inches tall. You may remember him as the tiny Santa Claus on top of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1996's JINGLE ALL THE WAY. Mike Myers claims that nearly 40% of the dialogue in this film was improvised on the spot, and that he has agreed to do up to five Austin Powers films in all. Even King Hussein of Jordan was a huge Austin Powers fan according to Myers, and watched the tape when he was ill at the Mayo Clinic. The original AUSTIN POWERS film became Billboard's No.1-selling video in its category in 1998, and has been there ever since (as of June 9, 1999...64 weeks and counting). James Bond film references: (Entertainment Weekly#489) The title is a direct rip-off of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. When Austin and Felicity hit the beach in bikinis, it's a reference to Ursula Andress in DR.NO. The new volcanic lair of Dr. Evil is from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (Just as Dr. Evil is patterned after TWICE's Blofeld character). The music for the sequel is very CASINO ROYALE, and there's a bit of GOLDFINGER in the scene where Austin sees an assassin behind him in the reflection of his glasses. There are also plenty of other film references tossed in and around, such as INDEPENDENCE DAY, JERRY MAGUIRE, THE EXORCIST, STAR WARS, THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, and many more which I just can't seem to remember at this time. This film was originally titled IT'S SHAGGING TIME and THE RETURN OF DR. EVIL. In the U.S., "shag" is far less offensive than in other English-speaking countries. Singapore briefly forced a title change to THE SPY WHO SHIOKED ME ("Shioked" means "treated nicely.").
Review Date: June 9, 1999
Director: Jay Roach
Writers: Mike Myers and Michael McCullers
Producers: Mike Myers, Demi Moore, John Lyons
Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd
Actors: Mike Myers as Austin Powers/Dr. Evil/Fat
Bastard
Heather Graham as Felicity Shagwell
Genre: Comedy
Year of Release: 1999
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(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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