By Lars Lindahl, High School Student © 1999 Lars Lindahl
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) Directed by Jay Roach Written by Mike Myers Starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Mindy Sterling, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Hurley
Grade: B-
It makes perfect sense why Mike Myers decided to make another "Austin Powers" film. The original was a box office hit which introduced new phrases into our pop-culture vocabulary. It made Mike Myers an independent household name without the accompaniment of Dana Carvey or the black baseball cap and the torn blue jeans he wore in "Wayne's World". With "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me", Myers has permanently left his name on a select list of comedic geniuses of the 1990's. Genius is an appropriate word. Only geniuses would use the same jokes that earned them big bucks in the past for future events. This strategy takes advantage of the pleasures of target audiences and gets as much money as it can out of these viewers until their act grows tiresome. Myers has followed this lucrative code by appearing as his Austin Powers creation in a number of ads, an MTV awards show, a Madonna music video, a trivia computer game and now in the sequel "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Luckily for him, his British spy has not grown tiresome…yet. The sequel is almost a carbon copy of the original. The same characters and the same gags are used in both films. In the sequel, however, the jokes are taken to a higher level meaning the duration of time each joke requires to execute is a bit longer. This makes the film enjoyable but it leaves an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. Although the title ostensibly suggests that Austin Powers is the star of the film, Mike Myers' second creation, Dr. Evil, is the main focus of the film with numerous jokes, one after the other. Austin's titular character is just a formulaic character who inevitably gets the girl and saves the day. Dr. Evil is also formulaic indeed, as he is destined to attempt to take over the world but fail in the last ten minutes, but he is responsible for the true laughs in the film. His clueless rhetoric on how to use slang in his sentences is very memorable. He's just trying to fit in. When he incorrectly makes a statement or when he embarrasses himself physically, he uses his powerful status to try to prove what he is doing is right, no matter how wrong he is. For example, when he gets some foam from his Starbucks drink on his nose and chin, Dr. Evil immediately replies, once realizing it is there, that that is how they drink it in Belgium. "We call it the Belgium Dip." Dr. Evil is so frightening that no one could argue with him. What is so amusing is Dr. Evil, a supposedly powerful and audacious, is like a little Teddy Bear, innocuous and fearful. In order to hide this secret, Dr. Evil hires a number of hilarious henchmen. Mustafa (Will Ferrell) plays a hit-man who can not stand to be asked a question three times in a row. Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) is an exact replica of Dr. Evil, except he is one eighth of his size. Fat Bastard (also played by Myers) weighs a metric ton who eats because he is sad and is sad because he eats. These characters are all highlights of the film as they add their own unique personalities. Come to think of it, "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" when compared to "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" is almost like Dr. Evil when compared to Mini-Me. It's an identical copy, but bigger and more powerful.
© 1999 Lars Lindahl
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