I, like many of you, have been waiting for this movie for two years... and suprise, suprise I am not talking about Star Wars. Ever since the original Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery fans have hoped that the spy spoof would become a series much like the Bond films of the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. I don't know if Austin will be able to span four decades, but hopefully this is only the begining of a series of Austin Powers films with the comedic genis Mike Myers. The second installment of the series is just as shagadelic as the original with much of the same as the original, but it is still worth it even if it isn't original.
Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) and his mini clone Mini-Me (Verne Troyer)
The Spy Who Shagged Me starts off where International Man of Mystery ended... in Austin (Mike Myers, Saturday Night Live, Wayne's World) and Vanessa's (Elizabeth Hurly, Ed TV, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery) Honeymoon sweet with the newleyweds in bed after a go of shagging. Austin then begins to notice that Vanessa is acting strange and then her face falls off and it is revealed that she is a Fembot (one of Dr. Evil's creations) sent to destroy Austin. After she explodes Austin laments that "My bride was a fembot, that means... I'M SINGLE AGAIN, YEEAAAAHHH!" The ensuing dance/credit roll is remeniscent of the original that leaves you laughing from the get go. We then run into Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers) who reveals that he has invented a time machine and will use it to go back to 1969 to steal Austin Powers' (his arch enemy) Mojo (aka labido) which will render him powerless to stop his plan of world domination. With the help of the Ministry of Defense Austin goes back to 1969 to retreive his Mojo from Dr. Evil and foil his evil plans of world domination.
Austin (Mike Myers) gives Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) a massage
When he gets to 1969 Austin meets Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham, Boogie Nights, Swingers), a CIA agent that is a woman of Austin's dreams. Not only is she "switched on," as Austin puts it, but she is also as much of a swinger as he is. She has great lines like "That is a tight outfit, how do you get into those pants" "You can start by buying me a drink." Felicity and Austin deiscover that Dr. Evil plans to build a laser on the Moon to destroy cities on Earth. But to stop Dr. Evil they must get through his henchman of Mini-Me (Verne Trover, Men In Black), an exact clone of Dr. Evil only 1/8 the size, Fat Bastard (again Mike Myers), a huge Scotsman who will eat anything and everything, Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), Number 2 (Robert Wagner as the old Number 2 of 1999 and Rob Lowe as the young Number 2 of 1969) and of course Dr. Evil's son Scott (Seth Green, Can't Hardly Wait, Buffy The Vampire Slayer [TV Series]).
Seth Green as Scott Evil
Unfortunately for anyone expecting something new from Mike Myers in this second installment, you will be dissappointed. That is because The Spy Who Shagged is pretty much the same as International Man of Mystery. The plot is generally the same, Dr. Evil with a plot of world domination with Austin and his shagadelic companion trying to stop him... the jokes are basically identical, lots of sexual humor and just plain silliness. The thing is Mike Myers was smart... if something works, stick with it, no matter what the critics say. For example, my local newspaper ridiculed Myers for doing the same thing as the original. However, no one who loved the original wanted anything different. This was exactly what we were waiting for... more of the same type of humor that we can quote to or friends at work... more jokes that college kids can recite in their dorm rooms. That is why the original Austin Powers was so successful, and that is why The Spy Who Shagged Me was not a dissappointment.
