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AUSTIN
POWERS 2: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME
Written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Directed by Jay Roach. Starring Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Hurley, Rob Lowe, Gia Carides, Michael York, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, Verne Troyer and Kristen Johnson.
My writing partner loves sixties spy films. How much does he love them? He owns a copy of IN LIKE FLYNT. On laserdisc. Letterboxed. With original trailers included. And actually watches it. Now that's dedication. Unfortunately he's made me watch it, too. IN LIKE FLYNT, CASINO ROYALE, all the Bond films. I've seen them because of him. And we're still partners. Now that's dedication! But with the release of AUSTIN POWERS - INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY a couple years ago, I forgave my partner all the hours of hell he'd put me through. Because without seeing those films I'd have never appreciated or enjoyed Mike Myers' 60's spy spoof so much. I thought the original was one of the best films of 1997, as well as the finest broad, goofy, anything-for-a-laugh comedy this side of the Farrelly Brothers in years.
So when I heard they were making a sequel I found myself looking forward to it, while also dreading it. Looking forward to it with the hope that, by some miracle, they could keep it as fresh and funny and vibrant as the first film. Dreading it because this type of comedy is difficult to keep fresh, funny and vibrant (AIRPLANE II, anyone? How about those NAKED GUN sequels? Need I mention the POLICE ACADEMY series? I rest my case). The first film had the advantage that it snuck up on everyone. The sequel, on the other hand, has been called 'the second most anticipated film of the summer'. Behind some space flick, I think. Hell, that's even how New Line's been marketing the thing. So the sequel is going to have to overcome a lot of obstacles to be as enjoyable as the first. (Especially considering the nosedive in quality that the sequel to Myers' other big hit, WAYNE'S WORLD, took.) Like I said - it'll take a miracle.
Well, I've read the script, and all I have to say is... miracle accomplished.
The Davey Jones shirt is a nice touch. Okay, I have a confession to make. My least favorite part of writing these reviews are the plot synopses. And since the plot to this film is not really all that important, I'm gonna get lazy and just quote from the New Line website. Ready? Here we go... "The year is 1999 and Austin Powers is honeymooning with the smashing Vanessa Kensington when he receives an 'explosive' surprise that returns him to single swinging status. (MY NOTE: She turns out to be a Fembot.) To make matters worse, Dr. Evil has returned to earth from the frozen recesses of space and is hatching a new diabolical scheme to annihilate the world. (MY NOTE: He has a moon base with a powerful laser, which he plans to use to destroy the world.) It seems Dr. Evil uses a newly developed time machine to travel back to 1969, where he steals Austin Powers' mojo, rendering Austin... powerless?" (MY NOTE: Well, Dr. Evil doesn't steal it - he has an enormous Scottish guy named 'Fat Bastard' steal it, primarily so Mike Myers can do his Scottish accent in a funny movie rather than having wasted it in SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER.)
"Luckily, British Intelligence has developed a unique time machine of their own - a psychedelic Volkswagen Beetle (MY NOTE: Can we say 'product placement'?) In the biggest Austin Powers adventure yet, the International Man of Mystery must travel back to the Swinging Sixties, track down his mojo and thwart Dr. Evil's plot to destroy the world. Of course, along the way, Austin meets his match in CIA operative Felicity Shagwell, a fab chick, a hot spy and a fantastic motivation for restoring his libido." (MY NOTE: Austin must battle Dr. Evil and all his henchmen - including Mini-Me, a tiny clone of Dr. Evil - in an adventure that takes them to the moon on Apollo 11. See, the Apollo 11 moon landing that we all saw was filmed in a studio, while in reality Austin and Felicity were up there battling Dr. Evil. Once there Austin learns that he had his mojo all the time, defeats Dr. Evil, saves the world and Felicity, and resumes his shagadelic lifestyle.)
I
dunno - a spy movie with scenes in outer space... it's going tobe tough to be any funnier than MOONRAKER.
I've stated previously on these pages what I consider to be the formula for making a satisfying sequel: Make the exact same movie, totally different. With ALIENS and TERMINATOR 2, James Cameron has mastered this. And now, with THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, so has Mike Myers. It's basically the same plot with certain elements reversed - Austin must find himself in a time and place where he doesn't fit in (in the first film he was a 60's icon trapped in the 90's, now he's adopted enough 90's attitudes to make his reappearance in the 60's a little bumpy). He must not be able to exercise his massive libido (in the first film he was hampered by an unresponsive partner and a conservative 90's attitude toward sexual promiscuity, now he's lost his mojo). He must foil Dr. Evil's plot to destroy the world (in the first film the earth was to be blown up from within, in this film it's to be blown up from the moon). And the reversals continue: In this film it's Austin who can't have sex, though his partner is more than willing... In the first movie his partner is disgusted and jealous when Austin sleeps with a villain to gain information, here it's Austin who is upset when Felicity sleeps with Fat Bastard... Instead of Fembots, there are now He-Bots... And at the end, when Austin asks Felicity if she'd like to get married, she says, "Absolutely not." To which Austin replies "Thank God," as they kiss and we fade to black. Not exactly the marital bliss on display in the first film. This makes the sequel nice and comfy and familiar, while allowing enough reversals to make us feel like we're not watching a carbon copy of the first film.
But like I said, the plot is not important. What is important are the jokes, and they are just as silly and goofy and funny as the first film. I've read so many terrible comedy scripts that I was stunned to find myself laughing out loud as I read the screenplay. One of the great things about Mike Myers as a writer is that he creates very vivid, dimensional characters, then places them into the broadest situations imaginable... and they continue to remain believably in character. It seems odd to call a film which relies so heavily on crazy, improbable humor a 'character comedy', but that's exactly what it is. Myers and his co-writer Michael McCullers have given what, in lesser hands, would have been one-note stereotypes of the superspy and super-villain, turned them on their head and made them strangely identifiable. And why are they identifiable? Because they're both very vulnerable. They're screw-ups, each with a soft side and personal problems, and oh yeah, they both just happen to hold the fate of the world in their hands.
It's this vulnerability that makes the characters appealing, and so damned funny as well. Just as with the first film, I walked away from the script feeling that the character of Austin Powers is very funny - but the character of Dr. Evil is hilarious. Beginning with his appearance on the Jerry Springer Show with estranged son Scott Evil (Please God let the line about his having a vestigial tail survive, as well as the long story that follows. Any page-long speech which begins with the lines, "I remember once I was being fisted by Sebastion Cabot - but here's where the story gets interesting," must be saved at all costs!) to the ending in which Austin chases him back through time, Dr. Evil is one of the most consistently funny characters in recent memory. Mike Myers seems to have found his comic voice with these films (proving that the first WAYNE'S WORLD wasn't a fluke), and I'm already eagerly awaiting the next Austin Powers adventure, as well as the big screen version of his recurring Saturday Night Live sketch SPROCKETS.
I was gonna insert another picture of Mike Myers with bad teeth?
Au contraire, baby. I don't know what else to say, really. If the movie is as enjoyable as the script - and I have no reason to believe it won't be - it will be just as much fun as the first film. It does exactly what it sets out to do, and that's make you laugh. 'Nuff said. If you liked the first one, go see this one. You should have a shagadelic good time. Yeah, baby! Grrrrr! MY PROGNOSIS? The first film made something like $55 million in theatres, and another $44 million on video. Combine those. Rule of thumb states that sequels normally make about half of what the previous film brought in. But THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME should be the exception. Hell, I even think there's an outside chance that it'll double what the first film made.
AND THE CRITICS SAY...
VARIETY (Dennis Harvey): "Bigger isn't necessarily better for AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, the follow-up to the 1997 sleeper. Expanded in every aspect save inspiration, co-writer/star Mike Myers' vehicle tickles the funny bone ably enough for 95 minutes, yet feels like a quickie where it ultimately counts most - in the writing... Biggest letdown is that Myers and Michael McCullers script just doesn't have it in terms of fresh narrative developments or individual gags. Too many of the latter are simply insistent reprises from part one; dialogue often sounds the result of so-so improv that should have been improved upon. Movie in-jokes, jokey product placements and a misguided dependence on soon-to-be-dated pop culture references (Dr. Evil now uses 90's hip-hop slang) fill out the rest of a colorful, fast-paced but thin diversion. With no truly outstanding comic set pieces, returning helmer Jay Roach's feature percolates along amusingly enough, but leaves a throwaway aftertaste. (A packed young preview aud(ience) laughed consistently, then barely applauded at the end.)" ROGER EBERT: "There are some big laughs in AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, but they're separated by uncertain passages of noodling. You can sense it when comedians know they have dead aim and are zeroing in for the kill. You can also sense it when they don't trust their material. The first AUSTIN POWERS movie burst with confidence: Mike Myers knew he was onto something. This time, too many scenes end on a flat note, like those "Saturday Night Live" sketches that run out of steam before they end... The key to a lot of the humor in the first film was that Austin Powers had been transported lock, stock and barrel from the 60's to the 90's, where he was a sexist anachronism. The other satirical target was the James Bond series. This second film doesn't want to be a satire so much as just zany, raunchy slapstick... THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME seems to forget that Austin is a man out of his time; there are few laughs based on the fact that he's 30 years past his sell-by date, and there's so much time travel in this movie that half of the time he's back in the 60's again. Even when he's in the 90's, however, the women seem to take him on his own terms. Myers and his collaborators, flush with the victory of the first film, have forgotten that Austin is a misfit and not a hero."LA TIMES (Kenneth Turan
): "There's no searching for coherence in the raucous and rowdy AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, no plot worth revealing, no attempt to make any sense. Laughs are all this film cares about, and it's wickedly unconcerned about how it gets them. More energetic and funnier than its predecessor, the considerable video hit AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY, this edition of Austinania is an AIRPLANE!-type cornucopia of spoof humor that takes gleeful potshots at a wide range of pop culture targets. It doesn't connect every time - there's no way it could - but its batting average is gratifyingly high... As these films and his earlier WAYNE'S WORLD demonstrate, Myers has a singular talent for skit humor. Seeing him play both the sniggering, snaggletoothed Austin, "the man who put the grr in swinger," and the fussy, pinky-waving Dr. Evil is to see a gifted performer who knows his strengths and is not afraid of playing to them. You can get away with an awful lot of gross, juvenile humor if you've got that to fall back on." NEW YORK TIMES (Janet Maslin): "There may be a time when even Austin Powers tires of the words "Oh, behave," but it isn't here yet. The sequel with the fab title AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME is several love beads short of its predecessor, but some of that was bound to happen once Austin's novelty dimmed. Despite an oversupply of bathroom jokes and scattered scenes that play like outtakes, this is still a crafty, intermittently hilarious comedy that deserves its place alongside Bill, Ted, Wayne, Garth, Ace, Mary and the Waterboy in the Smart-Stupid Hall of Fame."WASHINGTON POST
(Desson Howe): "Mike Myers know and we know: AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME is just a sequel. But instead of resigning himself to dreary reiteration, Myers has freed himself from the unspoken pressure to measure up against AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY. He's gone for broke, baby. And I think he's gone one better... In a way, THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME has followed the trajectory of the James Bond films it pays tribute to: It has advanced to the Roger Moore era, in which the story is a mere excuse for fun and games. There's a rampant looseness to this movie, and it's subversively liberating."WHILE THE PUBLIC SAYS...
AUSTIN POWERS 2: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME grossed $54.7 million on its opening weekend - the third highest 3-day opening of all time, behind THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK and STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE. Will studio execs now finally realize there is a market for goofy comedies that don't cost over $100 million to make? Probably not. They'll attribute this to the fact that it's a sequel with a long title that contains a colon in the middle. Get ready for WATERBOY 2: RETURN OF THE TACKLING DUMMY.
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