In the clever and hilarious "Star Wars" inspired trailer for "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," a familiar sci-fi score plays as a bald figure spins around in a chair of a space ship and mockingly asks if we were expecting someone else. Of course it's not Darth Vader, but Dr. Evil, the brilliant Blofeld-like villain created by "Saturday Night Live" alum, Mike Myers. When the narrator in that trailer then announces that if you see two pictures this year, make sure the second one is this film, he was right.
Liberally spoofing elements from that other "event" movie, the James Bond films, and obviously the original Austin Powers picture -- and showing a direct influence of the scatological humor of "There's Something About Mary" -- "The Spy Who Shagged Me" isn't quite as good as its predecessor. However, it still has enough goofy charm, outrageous humor and more than enough of Mike Myers to make it one of this year's "must see" DVD flicks.
While the first film was a moderate success, it really took off once on home video and one can see why. With so many goofy gags, fun characters and generally contagious silliness, it deemed repeated viewings and thus gained a huge, cult-like following. Well, all of the original's successful elements are reprised for the sequel, and fans of the first film probably won't be disappointed with the offerings here.
A clever opening that takes up right where the original left off and that's followed by a fun and hilarious opening credits number -- played to that infectiously funky "Soul Bossa Nova" tune from the first -- sets the proper mood and tone for the film. From that point on, and for the most part, the jokes and laughs constantly keep coming after that.
The biggest ones stem from a hilarious collection of scenes that string together different characters' dialogue into a "naughty, but still nice" sendup of various terms for a certain part of the male anatomy. Trying to describe it doesn't do the sequence justice, but trust us, it's quite funny.
The film also garners a great deal of laughs from its scatological humor, particularly a scene where Felicity Shagwell (played by Heather Graham) appears to remove -- via a view of their silhouetted figures -- various objects from a different part of Austin's anatomy. While it is quite funny -- if you don't mind such sophomoric humor -- the film may occasionally go a bit too far with such material.
Although the first film had its fair share of such jokes -- remember the "Who does Number Two work for?" scene set in a bathroom stall? -- the smashing success of "There's Something About Mary" and its body-based humor certainly seems to have had an influence on Myers and writing partner Michael McCullers. As such, while a scene where Austin drinks a certain body "liquid" generates some laughs, it will probably gross out as many as it tickles.
Directly related to such humor, the gross and obese character of Fat Bastard -- Myers under layers of fat supplied by Stan Winston's special effects -- completely misfires. While it allows Myers to do the Scottish accent he's voiced before, the character pales in comparison to Myers' brilliantly conceived creations from the first film and often comes off as more irritating than funny.
The same holds true for the character of Mini-Me played by the two-foot eight inch tall Verne Troyer. Although the initial sight of him as a one-eighth replica of Dr. Evil is quite funny, Troyer's never really allowed to do anything with him and a slight running gag of him having a biting obsession never really hits its full stride.
The film's biggest problem -- and one that many comedies would love to have -- is that this sequel, as helmed by Jay Roach (who made his debut with the first film), simply retreads many elements from the original. While that's a problem and/or prerequisite of any sequel, one can't help but subconsciously begin to tally the many similarities. As such, they somewhat collectively lessen the film's overall comedic touch.
Of course, there's no problem with the characters returning, and the crowning achievements of Myer's creative career -- Powers and Dr. Evil -- are as funny as before. It's just that the first film caught everyone off guard with its charming novelty and that factor is noticeably absent from this one. While that's not a horrible problem and certainly doesn't derail the film or one's enjoyment of it, the spark is missing, especially when the film repeats elements from its predecessor.
For example, although the appearance of Burt Bacharach in the original was funny in a retro-type fashion, his return here -- along with Elvis Costello -- collectively crooning "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" just isn't as much fun the second time around.
The same holds true for both Powers and Evil's mannerisms and dialogue ("Oh, beeehaaaveeeee!"), the familiar injury-induced comments of the character Mustafa (Will Ferrell reprising his role), some radar shots showing the shape of Evil's spaceships, and Powers' reaction to his female cohorts' sexually related names.
While those and many other similarities certainly aren't horrible, one only wishes that Myers and company could have generated a few more original -- and thus novel feeling -- laughs. Their big "twist" away from the original -- that Powers travels back in time to the swinging '60's -- also fails to fully deliver what one expects would be a hilarious sendup of that time or of time travel possibilities.
Instead, there are "accidental" references to things such as "The Alan Parsons Project" that struck me as mildly funny, but would have sailed over the head of anyone under thirty without a much needed -- and thus less funny -- explanation. Other contemporary references offer some widely ranging laughs, but will quickly be outdated -- and thus quite obscure -- in only a matter of years.
Even so, all of that's critical nitpicking -- due to personal high expectations and great admiration of the original -- and the film's certainly easy to enjoy and offers enough comedic moments for several movies, let alone one.
Although the plot itself isn't much more than a skeleton upon which to hang the film's many gags and Bond references -- such as ones involving "You Only Live Twice" (the villain's volcanic lair), "Dr. No" (Ursula Andress' famous bikini shot) and "Moonraker" (the outer space material) -- it's the fun and goofy performances that really make the film.
The character of Fat Bastard aside, Myers once again excels with his dual roles of Powers and Dr. Evil. Fabulous spoof creations, Myers injects so much creative juice into those two that you can't help but smile and/or laugh from the way he makes them come alive. With their reactions to events happening around them often being far funnier than those actual events whatever they may be, Myers is a constant delight to behold.
Taking the handoff from Elizabeth Hurley who makes a brief cameo appearance reprising her role from the first film, Heather Graham ("Boogie Nights," "Lost in Space") nicely fits the bill as Powers' sidekick, and clearly doesn't have a problem filling the mod boots and hip and often revealing "threads."
With so much attention paid to Fat Bastard and Mini-Me, the rest of the returning cast and their characters -- including Robert Wagner as Number Two, Seth Green as Evil's estranged son and Mindy Sterling as the shouting Frau Farbissina -- don't have as much screen time as before, although the latter has a funny romantic rendezvous with Evil. In addition, while Rob Lowe gives a dead-on impression of Robert Wagner at a younger age, he likewise doesn't get much of a chance to do anything with the character.
A wide range of other cameos are also present, including the likes of Kristen Johnson (TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun") as a Bond-like vixen, Ivana Humpalot, Tim Robbins ("The Player") as the President and yes, even Jerry Springer as himself, and they and others add funny little bits to the film.
While I would have preferred a bit less reliance on so much scatological humor and the retreading of elements from the original, I still enjoyed the film. Simply put, if you liked and/or loved the first film, there's little doubt that your opinion will vary with this sequel. Although not quite as good as the original -- mainly due to the novelty spark being absent -- "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" still delivers the comedic goods.
As far as the disc itself the picture has a few flaws but is certainly easy enough to watch, while the audio is topnotch. The same holds true for the supplemental materials. From the running audio commentary by Myers and his associates, to around 20 minutes of deleted scenes and plenty of other material, fans of the film will have a field day with the extra material.
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