Anthony's Film Review - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

A sequel with promise for laughs, but it still falls somewhat short...

For this movie, I won't really talk about how sequels are very prone to not living up to the original. You've probably heard it many times already, from me or from anyone else. What I will talk about, though, is this particular result itself. What makes this second Austin Powers movie, in my opinion, less entertaining than its predecessor? A couple of things come to mind.

First, the types of jokes they decided to use for this one. It's much less of a James Bond spoof this time. It seems to steer towards poking fun at current pop culture, a type of gag that writers seem to resort to in place of original humor. Don't get me wrong. Some of it was funny. An early scene with Dr. Evil on the Jerry Springer show and engaging in the show's signature brawls did make me laugh a lot. Later, Dr. Evil makes references to Darth Vader, including an emphasis of the Death Star with fingers for quotation marks, as if he's trademarking the name for himself. That was somewhat funny. There's even the use of a certain clip from another science-fiction movie. Even if I don't tell you what that movie is, you will likely just smile, with or without a small laugh.

As for the characters, they're OK. Mike Myers is likable as usual in the role of the swinging British agent Austin Powers and the goofy villain Dr. Evil. His female sidekick this time is Felicity Shagwell, played by Heather Graham. Now, Elizabeth Hurley reprises her role from the first film briefly in the beginning, but then it ends right there. It's a lame attempt to surprise the audience, but it mostly makes little sense. Other characters include Rob Lowe as a young Number Two, Verne Troyer as Mini-Me, and Mike Myers as the third role of the disgusting Fat Bastard.

Fat Bastard was perhaps my biggest problem with the movie. His scenes had nothing but gross-out humor. The first Austin Powers may reach the line sometimes, but it doesn't blatantly cross it and run. That's why the humor in that one could be risque but funny. Fat Bastard ruins the movie with scenes involving excess eating and defecation. Regarding the latter, it leads up to the shocking scene that surprisingly did not give the movie an R rating. A stool sample is being boiled in a lab, right next to a coffee machine. Yes, it is what you think.

With a mixed bag like this, it's clearly not better than Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. It's not horrible, either, but I wouldn't feel inclined to watch it again after seeing it once. Also note that the things I've just talked about does not represent everything about the film. It's mainly, like in all of my film reviews, the things that stand out the most. Whether the other stuff is interesting or not is something you'll have to find out. Chances are that you'll lean towards a middle or negative rating for this movie.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my reviews of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and Austin Powers in Goldmember.