Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me


Starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Seth Green, Rob Lowe, Mindy Sterling, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Verne Troyer, Kirsten Johnson, Elizabeth Hurley, Tim Robbins, Will Ferrell. Directed by Jay Loach.

Austin Powers (Myers) is spending his honeymoon with his new wife Vanessa (Hurley), but he is dismayed to find she's is just a fembot sent by Dr. Evil to blow him up real good. But her untimely death makes Austin a swinging single, on the prowl once again. He meets a beautiful British agent Felicity Shagwell (Graham), "Shagwell by name, Shag very well by reputation.", and they become a dynamic evil-fighting duo. Meanwhile, after being banished into space by Austin, Dr. Evil (Myers) holes up in his Starbucks headquarters plotting ways to take over the world. Number 2 (Wagner) has created a 1/8th size clone of the evil one, and Dr. Evil names him Mini-Me (Troyer). His son Scott (Green) is as much a sarcastic slacker as ever, and jealous over daddy's love for his equally evil little clone.

Dr. Evil has decided the best way to stop Austin Powers is to go back to 1969 in his time machine, to steal Austin's "mojo" - the libido, the life force - from the cryogenically frozen Austin Powers. He employs the incredibly repulsive Fat Bastard (Myers) to drill into the popsicle and extract the mojo out of him. Just in the middle of doing the "bad thing" with a Russian model-spy (Johnson), Austin loses his ability to shall we say perform. His boss (York) informs him that Dr. Evil is the cause, so Austin drives back in a psychedelic VW convertible time machine to 1969 to confront Dr. Evil and get his mojo back, and and also thwart an attempt by the Dr. to destroy the world.

Joining such films as The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek: The Wrath Khan, and arguably Aliens and The Godfather: Part II, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is a sequel better than the original. It is funnier, smarter and better paced than the original Austin Powers. Although it travels the recent trend of gross-out humour on several occasions, it does so with style and is consistently funny and sly about it. The film emphasizes Dr. Evil over Austin Powers to its credit, and introduces a third Mike Myers character, Fat Bastard. Borrowing the very funny Scottish accent from I Married An Axe Murderer, Fat Bastard is a loud, sweating, drooling, disgusting physical specimen who considers inhaling an entire buffet in bed foreplay. You mean it's not? The movie moves at a brisk pace, effectively parodying a wide variety of topics. One of the best is an appearance by Dr. and Scott Evil on the Springer show, with the requisite chair-throwing brawl at the end. Another is the discussion about the illogic about most time machine plots. The film also features a very funny running gag in how to describe in many ways how the shape of Dr. Evil's ship resembles a certain appendage, including the use of a cameo by Woody Harrelson. Another smart move on Myer's part is quickly jettisoning Elizabeth Hurley and Robert Wagner early in the proceedings, allowing for new characters and actors to spice up the action.

The film is helped by a wide variety of funny performances. Myers is again excellent, especially as Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard. And as Austin Powers, Myers actually creates a few touching moments when he wants to do the "bad thing" with Felicity, but cannot due to the loss of his mojo. Rollergirl Graham is a significant improvement over Liz Hurley, contributing a bang on impression of a sexy, eager Bond girl. And she does look great in those mini-skirts. Rob Lowe, becoming a regular in Mike Myers movies, delivers an uncanny imitation of Robert Wagner as Number 2. He is becoming a reliable comic actor, displaying a talent hidden from his early work in the 1980's. Who knew. Green delivers some of the films funniest lines, fighting with daddy's little clone for the doctor's love and affection. Robbins provides a very funny cameo as the nuke-happy U.S. president who resents having to pay any ransom to the weasly Dr. Evil. If you liked the groovy original, you're destined to love the shagadelic Spy Who Loved Me.




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