Review of Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) by Sean L — 15 Mar 2012

The second installment in Mike Myers's gentleman spy parody is something of an ugly duckling when compared to its siblings. Tossing away the more grounded themes and aspects of the first film, it dives headfirst into a sea of slapstick and never comes up for air.

It's not a bad movie, nor is it unfunny; it merely dips into the well of recurring gags from the original too frequently and deals unfavorably with a tough set of growing pains. The reverse time traveling central plot is half-baked and doesn't work, a shortcoming which the movie itself acknowledges by literally telling the audience not to take things too seriously.

That may make for a good standalone punchline, but it doesn't solve the problem and following in the footsteps of an excellently-written first film makes it tough not to expect more. New cast members Mini Me and Fat Bastard are brilliant additions who steal the spotlight every time they're on-screen, but Myers and flavor of the month Heather Graham never really connect as a duo.

Simply going through the motions is good enough for a few laughs, but it's missing a lot of the invariables that made the series so successful to begin with.