Austin Powers - Spion in geheimer Missionarsstellung

Picture this: you're home with your friends or family and you have to pick a film. Nothing's really looking good and you just want to stick something on to have a good laugh. Here comes, the Austin Powers trilogy! Out of the three films, this one is one of the funnier instalments. Mike Myers gives a great performance as always, and Rob Lowe gives a great performance (although a very short one). I love the British 60's vibe, since I'm a big vintage fan. It's a good film to put on when you're having a bad day and just need a laugh. No wonder Austin Powers is such an icon nowadays!

The Spy who Shagged Me - not a title you'd expect to garner much respect, but this movie does okay. With Austin Powers 2 we see the arrival of such characters as Mini-Me and Fat Bastard, who inevitably help steer the sequel way from completely recycling every joke used in the first film. However, there is still that overlap, so a lot of the humor comes off a bit stale and tacky. There is virtually no end to the plot holes, inconsistencies, and various irregularities, but that is often a big part of the humor of the Austin Powers movies - making direct fun of the spy genre, as well as themselves.

And, on a personal note, Heather Graham is by far more attractive than Liz Hurley, and she flaunts it with great respect for us, the juvenile minded male audience. Overall, I'd consider this sequel about on par with the original, not in any specific details, but in all-around entertainment value.

I remember when "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" came out in '99. The movie tried to use "Star Wars" fame to promote itself as it was being released around the same time.

Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is back and so is Number Two (Robert Wagner) and so is Mustafa (Will Ferrell). Austin is single again because his wife ended up being a fembot. Go figure. Dr. Evil (also Mike Myers) has a new scheme in mind. This time he wants to travel back in time to 1969, when Powers was frozen, and steal his mojo. For that task he uses a new henchman, Fat B_____d (IMDb won't allow me to write it).

I actually liked "Spy Who Shagged Me" more than "International Man." The addition of Mini Me (Verne Troyer) was hilarious and as I said about part one, I much prefer to see more Dr. Evil. The back and forth between him and his son Scott (Seth Green) is priceless.

The absence of Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) meant that Austin would need another female partner fawning over him. When he followed Dr. Evil back to 1969 he was partnered up with Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) who, much like Vanessa, was a sex symbol with a gun.

The movie suffered a little with one of its run on jokes (the rocket ship shaped like a phallus). There were a few more stars which didn't help much, but we got a tad more Dr. Evil which was a big bonus.

Some people don't think AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY was worthy of a sequel. Some think there should be a large series of AUSTIN POWERS movies, like the infamous Bond movies. Trust me, I'm kinda sick of everyone doing impressions of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, (and I do one fine Dr. Evil if I do say so myself, even though both are easy to impersonate), but I thought AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME was even better than the first one. So if you asked me if there should be a series of AUSTIN POWERS movies, and I wasn't so sick of all those impersonations, I might say "Yeah baby!"

Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is sent back to 1969 by Basil Exposition (Michael York) to stop Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) who has stolen Austin Powers' "mojo" and plans to build a giant laser on the movie and destroy all major cities on Earth. In the sixties, Austin Powers meets Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham), who is just as sexy and hip as Austin is. Scott Evil (Seth Green) is still trying to work out things with his father, even though Dr. Evil has turned his attention to his clone in 1/10 size, Mini-Me (Verne Troyer). Number Two (Robert Wagner, then Rob Lowe), Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling) and Mustafa (Will Ferrell) all return to help Dr. Evil, in addition to Fat Bastard (Mike Myers), the disgusting, overweight, Scottish henchman.

Let's face is, Austin Powers has never been about plot. Considering that this movie is basically a spoof of OUR MAN FLINT and the JAMES BOND movies, the plot is pretty entertaining and funny. The giant laser on the moon was great, obviously spoofing MOONRAKER, in addition to many other movies of its type.

The acting in this movie is all very good. Mike Myers does a great job playing three very different characters. Heather Graham beats the crap out of Elizabeth Hurley (not literally in this movie, but how cool would that be) and is way sexier in my book. Seth Green and Mindy Sterling are great, especially when together. Will Ferrell was one of my favorite performers and characters in this movie. Robert Wagner is good, but his role is taken over by Rob Lowe after they go back in time. Lowe does an unbelievable job and is almost exactly like Wagner was as the character. Michael York does a fairly good job too. There are some great cameos by names like Clint Howard, Tim Robbins, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Kristen Johnston and Jerry Springer.

Unlike in AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY, there is great character development. This first AUSTIN POWERS movie did a good job laying a foundation for these characters, but this movie really set them off. Dr. Evil stole the show, which is great because he is obviously the best character. Austin Powers, Number Two and Basil are about the same as in the first one. Felicity is way more interesting and sexier than Hurley was. Frau is much more interesting in this movie, as is Scott who is still saying "Why don't you just kill them?" to his father. Mustafa, who you might not even remember from the first one, is hilarious in this movie. Mini-Me was fun, but in the next AUSTIN POWERS movie, it shouldn't revolve around him as much. Fat Bastard is my least favorite character and I hope he isn't in the next AUSTIN POWERS movie.

Go see this one, you won't regret it. It sure won't win any Oscars, but it's one of the funniest movies of the year. Turn your brain off and enjoy it!

Austin Powers is one of those movies that has become MORE popular as time wears on. Austin's slang has worked its way into the lexicon and everything from the redhot video to the Austin Powers Penis Enlarger is on sale and raking in meeeeeelions. When news of a sequel hit the streets, fans freaked. It's safe to say that AP2 is rivaled only by The Phantom Menace as 1999's must see.

The wait is over.

The second-most anticipated movie of 1999 finally comes to theaters. We're ecstatic to report that AP is a friggin' laugh riot, as Myers and crew have strung together another brilliant collection of one-liners and over the top, sometimes horribly disgusting, sight gags. The follow-up to 1997's video hit has Austin heading back to the 60s to track down his mojo, stolen by one of Dr. Evil's comically evil hapless henchmen. What's mojo? A multi-colored, stringy looking mess that makes Austin irresistible to the ladies. But the plot isn't so important. This is the Austin you know and love, only this time he's even more raw and hardcore.

It's clear that Myers was given a much larger budget to bring his vision to the screen after the runaway success of Austin Powers on video. The sets in Spy are much more vibrant and huge, the effects (yes, effects) are top-notch, and the pacing is completely nonstop. I had a perma-grin stuck on my face through the whole thing and will need to see it again just because the audience drowned out some lines with laughter.

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty Spy picks up with Austin taking a trip in a time machine back to the smashing 60s where, as we all know, he is a sexual dynamo. The time travel bits can get confusing, but as Basil Exposition of British Intelligence says, "Just sit back and enjoy yourself." Back in the 60s, Austin quickly draws the attention of his nemesis Dr. Evil. The hilarity begins as a patchwork parade of moronic henchmen attempt to wipe out Austin.

Still, the best reason to shell out your cash is that AP2 is clearly Dr. Evil's movie. If he's your favorite, you're in luck. Most important, we see him get some.

The film does lean a bit too heavily on gags from the first flick and some of the "Yeah, baby" schtick grows old fast. (When your Mammy starts saying "Yeah, baby," it's clearly tired, right?) Still, fans of the original will feel right at home with the budget destructo devices, the horrid teeth, and the clumsy bumblings of Austin himself. In a summer full of high concepts and big budget, AP2 is just the ticket.