Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me

• Title:  Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me
• Director:  Jay Roach
• Date:  1999
• Studio:  New Line (et al)
• Genre:  Comedy
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Formats:  NTSC, R1
• Cast:  Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Rob Lowe, Seth Green, Verne Troyer

"You know what's remarkable?  How much the English countryside looks in no way like Southern California." -- Austin Powers (as he and Felicity escape in her car to the "English Countryside" which is obviously Southern California).

Not as good as the first Austin Powers film, The Spy Who Shagged Me still delivers a good story.  When the film came out I was actually surprised that they got away with that particular title, considering what "shag" is British slang for -- and that it's actually quite rude.  I also wondered if  the title was changed in the UK.  However, the title is also a parody of  the Roger Moore Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me.

The film opens with a crawl, also spoken, that's a parody of  Star Wars.  Star Wars will again be referenced later in the movie.  Then we have what is, I think, the biggest mistake in terms of  story-telling of  the film -- Vanessa (Elizabeth Hurley) turns out to be a Fembot, who tries to kill Austin and then blows up.  This leaves Austin single again, but it also ruins the romantic sub-plot of the first film, and any chance of  having a pair of married spies, instead of  horny, randy super-spies.  In short, I really missed Vanessa in this film.

Dr Evil returns in 1999, develops a time machine in his secret lair at Starbucks HQ in Seattle, and goes back in time to steal Austin's mojo from his frozen body at the Ministry of  Defense with the help of  Fat Bastard (also played by Myers).  Austin follows in a time-traveling VW Bug convertible, and meets Felicity Shagwell, CIA agent, at a club where she stops one of  Dr. Evil's assassins who's out to kill Austin.  Leaving the club they are attacked by another assassin, Mustafa (Will Farrell) from the first film, who also fails.

Felicity is a feminine Austin, with a "woman" symbol necklace and who's wearing a crushed velvet outfit when they meet.  She's American, and works for the CIA, but is still very much the swinging spy.  She even admits she became a spy because of  her admiration for Austin.

The film then slows down quite a bit, as Austin begins to fall for Felicity, but does nothing because of  his missing mojo.  There's a long sequence of  Austin being the fashion photographer and taking pictures of Felicity, and their falling for each other, but being unable to act on their feelings.  Felicity then, well, um, "shags" Fat Bastard, to get close enough to plant a homing beacon on him.  In a round about way, this leads to Austin and Felicity finding Dr. Evil's hidden island volcano liar.  Felicity and Austin go there, but eventually end up on the moon.  Because this time around Dr. Evil's plan is to use a giant laser on the moon to destroy cities on Earth, thus making the moon a "Death Star" (and a string of references to Star Wars, and the Bond film, Moonraker).  Scott Evil also travels back in time and pokes fun at his father who keeps making future cultural references that no one around him gets.

And Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissia end up having an affair.

A little extra time travel is used in the climax on the moon.  But overall, the plot is a bit overly complicated and too many references are thrown in that don't really add to the film.  There is some verbal wordplay and innuendo, but somehow the second helping of Austin Powers just seems like the same old thing.  I missed Mimi Rogers and Elizabeth Hurley very much, and Heather Graham seemed like a poor substitute (not really the actresses' fault).  I wasn't overly impressed with Mini-Me who seemed a cruel joke played out far too long, and the plot of this film seems to meander a bit too much.

However, there were points that worked.  Mike Myers still does a very sympathetic Austin.  Michael York does a brilliant job as Basil Exposition.  At the end, Myers, as Fat Bastard, delivers an excellent, surprisingly sympathetic soliloquy about the pains of  his condition.  Heather Graham isn't awful, she just isn't Elizabeth Hurley and I found her character a bit annoying.

The filming and color of the 1960s were great also.  And the opening sequence (under the credits) was brilliant.  I especially liked the parody of synchronized swimming films.  The psychedelic scene breaks (Laugh-In style) are still present.  Oh, and not to be forgotten - the music in this film is also excellent and I would really love a soundtrack.

Remember to watch the credits all the way through to see a couple of deleted scenes that are actually quite, quite fun.

• Recommendation:  See It!  But not as much of  a classic comedy/parody as the first film.
• Rating: 4 out of  5 Stars
• Next Film:  Austin Powers in Goldmember