Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Jay Roach
Written by: Mike Myers, Michael McCullers
Starring: Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Seth Green, Verne J. Troyer
Synopsis: Sex-obsessed 1960s swinger/superhero Austin Powers (Mike Myers) becomes impotent when his sexual prowess is stolen by archenemy Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) and Evil's Scottish lackey Fat Bastard (Mike Myers). Heather Graham plays Powers' female partner Felicity Shagwell (shag is the British four-letter word for the word f-ck). Powers meets Shagwell, and they take a time machine to the 1960s in order to thwart Dr. Evil.
Opinion: Blissful vulgarity is the main theme of THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, a ribald comedy that derives its snickers from phallic symbolism and devices such as farting, corny profanity puns, and the narcissism of sex-obsessed characters. Highlights include the scene where shadow silhouettes make it appear as if Shagwell is taking things in and out of Powers' rectum, bystanders remark about a huge, penish-shaped space shuttle, Powers drinks diarrhea mistaking it for strong coffee, and two takes of THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW. One fat/ethnic line says: "He has more chins than a Chinese phone book."
Many critics feel that the PG -13 rating of this movie is a big mistake, and I agree. Okay for adults, looney sex humor, overt profanity puns, and repeated scenes of Scott Evil calling has father an ass should not be standard fare for children.
THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME is an adequate comedy vehicle for Mike Myers-type humor. It has some genuinely funny parts mixed in with a lot of so-so, take-it-or-leave-it camp. Myers is versatile as three different characters, and Heather Graham does an admirable job as straight-shooting sidekick Felicity Shagwell.
Reviewed by David Sunga June 11, 1999
Copyright © 1999 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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