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| Directed by Jay Roach; Starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Verne Troyer, Seth Green, Rob Lowe, Mindy Sterling, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Kristen Johnston, and Elizabeth Hurley |
Can I hear the critics reminiscing about Patch Adams. While not as sappy as that film, the new Austin Powers film seems to be getting the same treatment as Tom Shadyac’s sentimental opus.
After being frozen in the sixties and unfrozen in the nineties, British super spy Austin Powers (Myers) must go back to 1969 when his arch nemesis Dr. Evil (Myers) and his henchmen have stolen his “mojo” while frozen. Without this sacred fluid, Austin cannot save the world and be the swinger he has always been. He teams up with Heather Graham as CIA agent Felicity Shagwell (wife Vanessa is taken care of in the first scene hilariously, followed by a funny opening ruined by synchronized swimming) to get back his mojo and save the world from Dr. Evil’s destructive Moon based laser.
The 1997 surprise critical hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery has spawned a sequel not even half as funny or interesting. I’d be lying if I said the sequel was not funny since I laughed many times, but the laughs were not near as big or memorable as those in the original. I found International Man of Mystery to be the greatest blend of A Hard Days Night, the James Bond franchise, and Blowup I had ever seen or could ever imagine (paraphrasing my old review for the original), but The Spy Who Shagged Me seems more in the vein of gross out comedies like There’s Something About Mary and Lost & Found than anything else. When Austin mistakenly drinks what he thinks is coffee, I was not laughing; when Dr. Evil finds the love of his life and begins to make love to her Dr. Evil style, I was not laughing; when sultry Graham is placed in the bed of a highly obese Scotsman (Myers, again) for her work and is forced to hide a tracer on his body (and leading to a joke more predictable than the ending of She’s All That), I was not laughing. In fact the only time I found the film to be highly enjoyable and really funny were the scenes where there is a sort of sibling rivalry between Dr. Evil’s son Scott (well done by Green) and Dr. Evil’s baby-like 1/8th clone Mini-Me (Troyer). I may have a recommendation on here, but it is thanks to the few big laughs and still only a slight recommendation.
Two best parts promising a recommendation: a Honey Rider spoof from Dr. No with Graham in the Rider swimsuit and the pan up, and the film actually had Bob Roberts as president (that alone deserves kudos, so kudos to you, Mike Myers).
