Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
New Line, 1999
Directed by Jay Roach

$$$1/4

The first thing you want to know about Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is, is it funny? The answer: yeah, baby, yeah! Okay, you saw that coming, but I had to get it out of the way.

Now down to business. The follow up to the 1997 sleeper hit, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, is indeed very, very funny. You'll laugh your ass off and you won't be disappointed.

The movie is a sequel, so naturally it lacks the originality and fresh, manic energy of the first one. That one was, as they say, "a funny little movie." This is a BIG FUNNY MOVIE. Writer and star Mike Myers and director Jay Roach got double the budget this time and it shows. They have bigger sets, more elaborate special effects and cameos by bigger stars. The jokes are not as witty, but there's more of them. The gags fly at you so fast you'll miss half of them because you're laughing so hard.

The first film introduced us to Austin's world. This time Myers and Roach have fun with it. Secret Agent Powers (Myers) must travel back in time to the Swinging 60s after his nemesis, Dr. Evil (Myers again), steals Austin's MoJo, his libido. In 1969, Austin hooks-up with knock-out CIA agent Felicity Shagwell, played by the adorable, sexy Heather Graham and her beautiful blue eyes. Together they thwart Dr. Evil's latest plot for World Domination.

All the fun characters from the original are back, along with many of the jokes which get recycled. But there are some new additions as well. The biggest crowd pleaser is sure to be Mini-Me, a clone of Dr. Evil who's 1/8 the size. But I laughed the hardest at Dr. Evil's newest henchman, a grotesquely obese Scotsman named, Fat Bastard (played by Myers as well, this time in a big rubber fat suit).

Myers also does a good job paying homage to the James Bond films he's spoofing. This time around we get send-ups of the hollowed-out Volcano from You Only Live Twice and the spies-in-space plot of Moonraker. We also get a rerun of the beach scene from Dr. No, only this time I must say Graham looks better in that bikini than Ursula Andress ever did.

The first Austin Powers felt like a little inside joke. But we all got it. This Austin feels like it's for a mass audience; the jokes are aimed at wider targets. But the bits all hit the bullseye, baby. It's groovy.

(c) Copyright 1999