"IT'S SHAGADELLIC BABY, YEAH!"

By Thomas Chau

Cast: Mike Myers (Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard); Heather Graham (Felicity Shagwell); Robert Wagner (Old Number 2); Rob Lowe (Young Number 2); Seth Green (Scott Evil); Kristen Johnson (Ivana Humpalot); Elizabeth Hurley (Vanessa Kingsington)

General Plot: Dr. Evil and Austin Powers go at it again in this sequel to the 1997 smash hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Attempting again to take over the world, Dr. Evil goes back to the 60's and steals Austin Powers' mojo, hindering Austin from any of his usual sexual charm. To the rescue is Felicity Shagwell, a beautiful, sensual spy for the CIA from the 60's. Together, they try to stop Dr. Evil from blowing up Washington D.C. unless he receives his $100 billion ransom. Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10

After two years of invading college campuses and becoming a classic cult film, Austin Powers is back on the big-screen, unfortunately battling against Star Wars: Episode I at the box-office. But no worries...everything's still groovy. The original Austin Powers film surprised movie-goers with a strong opening weekend box-office ($10 million) and even a stronger run in video sales. E! Online reported that Austin Powers was the best-selling video in 1998!

With all this in mind, you have to walk in with high expectations. Maybe not as high regarding Star Wars, but you get the idea.

Alright, enough with the jabering...to the review we go...

In a nutshell, The Spy Who Shagged Me is a shagadellic sequel bound to make the squares of the world erupt with laughter. Mike Myers, co-writer Michael McCullers, and director Jay Roach deserves kudos for their jokes, characters, and an hilarious cast.

What I liked best about the film was the character development. (THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT? What the hell are you talking about Tom? Well I mean just that.) As opposed to the original, you really get to know a little more about each old character while at the same time, you get a warm introduction to the new ones. For example, we learn that Frau is a lesbian, Number 2 is a pathetic momma's boy, and Scott despite his hip, "I'm too cool", punk-nature, is the only one with any brains whatsoever in their little "evil" group. As for Austin, well, he was still Austin but I guess we can forgive them for that. Dr. Evil I will get to later.

Then there were the new characters: Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) was just so damn sexy, I kept wondering if Elizabeth Hurley meant anything to me anymore. Fat Bastard was unsightly as a person and his humor was so bland, I really think they can do without him in the third movie. There's nothing he said or did that you can't see in a Howard Stern program. I guess Fat Bastard gives a new meaning to the term "bathroom humor".

But then there was Mini-Me: Played by Verne Taylor (who is only a meager 2 foot 8 inches tall) he was the perfect accomplice to Dr. Evil. He's the perfect deceptive tool an evil villain in a comedy satire could use. Just when you think Dr. Evil couldn't get any more ridiculous, just when you think Dr. Evil has enough henchmen...BOOM. He brings out some short, innocent looking guy that you can imagine kicking 100 yards into a soccer net. But you turn around and he starts biting your crotch and head-slamming you to the floor.

One thing about this film that beats the original is the fact that they concentrated mainly on the dark side in the sequel (kinda like The Empire Strikes Back). Dr. Evil definitely had to be the funniest character. A lot of his jokes were fresh & funny, he was more insensitive and this time, in a sense, he was more "evil". At the same time however, he was constantly preoccupied with the notion to appear hip and cool from the 90's. Appearing on the Jerry Springer show with Scott had to be a classic, along with getting up and fighting the other guests on the show. Repeating quotes from Jerry Maguire, trying to use street language such as "Talk to the hand cause the face don't wanna hear", singing Joan Osborne's One of Us, he made himself look even more ridiculous while at the same time, tried to maintain his evil nature to take over the world - which made Dr. Evil all the more funnier.

My greatest fear going into the theater however became true: The script is bombarded with recycled jokes from the first film. At times, you wonder if they simply cut out scenes from the original and placed them in new situations with new characters. Although the average movie-fan won't grow cold with Austin Powers this time around, there really isn't a future for him if he does anymore films after the third one. New Line Cinema has spoken of turning Austin Powers into a franchise series but audience members will soon grow cold out of the "Do I make you horny, do I?" jokes. I mean, can't you come up with any other catch phrases Mike?

Nevertheless, The Spy Who Shagged Me continued to ridicule previous spy and actions films such as The Thomas Crown Affair, The Island of Dr. Moreau and of course the James Bond films. There was also a surplus of delightful cameos by Jerry Springer, Woody Harrelson, and Willie Nelson. Also making appearances again are Elizabeth Hurley, Clint Howard, and Burt Lancaster. There's never a dull moment in this movie - the comedy refreshes itself every scene with either newfangled surprises or humor. It's one groovy movie baby, and I definitely rate this movie as randy.