Austin Powers: O Agente 'Bond' Cama

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.

The follow-up to 1997's Austin Powers:International Man of Mystery was probably not a certainty form the get-go:if I recall correctly,the first Austin Powers was NOT the smashing success of a box-office film that many involved initially imagined,and had it not been for a strong reaction from video and DVD renters,the franchise may've stopped at one. Since I happened to enjoy the first one(saw it on video BTW),I can honestly say that while the sequels seemed to have depreciating value,I'm still glad that Myers and company went ahead with the follow-ups.

Now acclimated to the '90s,Austin(Myers,who else?)is about to settle into wedded bliss when he's attacked in his honeymoon suite by a legion of Fembots,given marching orders by a refugeed Dr.Evil(Myers,see previous ref). It seems that Evil's back trying to destroy the free world,this time with the aid of a time machine of his own making. Of course,the British secret service ALSO has a time machine(of course),and Austin races through time to stop Evil's plans,this time with the help of one Felicity Shagwell(Heather Graham,beautiful,sexy,game,and yet somehow out of her element here),an American NOC agent from the year 1969.

A whole series,moving almost in waves,of sight-gags,verbal plays and yet more homages to Bond and Bond-type movies of the '60s,basically keeps the continuity of the original going seamlessly. Much of the cast from the last movie-- particularly Robert Wagner as the chief Hench,Seth Green as sullen son Scott Evil,Mindy Sterling as Frau FArbissima,Michael York as Basil Exposition and Will Ferrell as Mustafa the Assassin(who must be asked the same question THREE times in order to get information. One of my favorite gags from the movie)--are back,supplemented by Rob Lowe as the younger Number Two,Verne Troyer as Evil's identical clone,one-tenth his size and Myers again as Fat Bastard,a Scotish assassin with a violent temper who weighs a metric ton(I think I'm paraphrasing there),among others. Cameos by(among others) Burt Bacharach(as from the previous film)and Elvis Costello are added to give the film it's small slice of romanticism. Jay Roach returns to direct this one,and he,as usual,is near transparent in allowing Myers(not only star and co-producer but also screenwriter)to pretty much take this film as high,low,far,close,loud,soft and whatever as he fancies. While the original's flavor seems to be getting steadily diluted by the "franchise effect" of sequels(in other words,the effect that kind of makes a movie more of a "product" than a piece of entertainment),it still has the same sass,cheeky humor and fun to keep it quite enjoyable.

I don't know the character's name of Mindy Sterling but she is the German ally to Dr. Evil. There is a bit of chemistry between them too. Austin's back and single again and I won't tell you how. The gang includes Michael York who should be knighted as Basil Exposition. Dr. Evil is back along with his son, Scott played brilliantly by Seth Green. This time, they go on the Jerry Springer Show entitled "My Evil Dad wants to take over the world." I have to say that is a brilliant moment. My favorite moments are not with Austin but with Dr. Evil and his son, Scott. I love Mini-Me who is Dr. Evil's clone. He's more his son than Scott Evil ever was. Anyway we learn of Scott's mother's identity but I knew all along and won't spoil the surprise. Robert Wagner is back and it's another spoof of the Bond films but I still love watching Dr. Evil and Scott bond best of all or at least try too.

I believe that the general consensus is that the first Austin Powers movie is the best of the bunch. I happen to disagree (as you can probably tell from my one-line-summary). I feel that the second film actually improves on the first film by adding a few new characters and generally cutting loose on the humor making it even more bizarre and funny than in the first film. I don't expect people to agree but at least hear me out as to why I think the second film is better.

As I said a few new characters have been added to the roster and we get to see some older characters in new and exiting ways. The best addition to the character rooster is Mini-Me, Doctor Evil's clone, played brilliantly by Verne Troyer. Not only is he hilariously funny but he also brings out a different side to Doctor Evil which I found to be extremely funny. On a related note I found Doctor Evil to be much more interesting as a character in the second film than in the first. Probably because the Austin character had to be established in the first film. Second there is the addition of Fat Bastard, played by Myers himself. A lot of people have responded negatively to Fat Bastard but I found him quite funny in a very weird way. Mike Myers definitely took a step up the weird ladder when he came up with him. Elizabeth Hurley is written out of the script very early in the film and instead Heather Graham is introduced as Felicity Shagwell. Heather Graham is not as strong as Hurley was as Austin's love interest but she remains nice as eye-candy and what can you expect more than that. Seth Green pretty much reprises his role from the first film. Nothing much to come after there. The supporting cast is pretty much the same as in the first film except this time we get to see Number Two in a young version played by Rob Lowe who does an uncanny imitation of Robert Wagner. Mindy Sterling and Michael York returns in their respective parts as well. There are also quite a few cameos in the film. Including Tim Robbins, Woody Harrelson, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and many more.

The film still spoofs Bond obviously and the title in itself is of course a reference to The Spy Who Loved Me and once again I find that no-one does it better than Myers. After the success of the first I think they gave Myers free reigns because a lot of the stuff in this film is pretty far out. An example could be the hilarious fight between Austin and Mini-Me and an equally funny scene in a tent. I won't reveal any more than that. Another thing is that the overall effects seem much more polished this time around which is probably also caused by the success of the previous film.

The story is pretty much non-existent which I found to be an improvement over the previous film which actually attempted to incorporate a story rather than just be all out fun.

All in all I think it is a matter of taste. Either you prefer the first or you prefer the second but you should definitely give this film a try just for the heck of it.

All in all

7/10

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.