The Spy Who Gagged Me

Just two words of advice for Austin Powers writer/producer/star Mike Myers: Oh, behaaave.

In Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (sequel to Myers' pop phenomenon, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), Myers goes on a sophomoric free-for-all, incorporating any kind of toilet humor he can flush in. And just so there's no doubt, one plot point even involves an actual toilet (the contents of which undergo a fate best left to be described on a far less tasteful Web site).

There is also a naughtily-shaped rocket ship that sparks a running gag which, while well executed (and, it has to be admitted, funny) still feels out of place.

This is not to say that all the humor in Shagged Me is sophomoric. Some is just plain childish. An example:

Austin Powers (massaging the back of Felicity Shagwell): How does that feel, baby?
Felicity Shagwell: Lower. . .
Austin Powers (dropping his voice several octaves): How does that feel, baby?

Whereas the first Austin Powers scored because it mostly mined its humor from characters and situations (farcical though they were), Shagged Me is mostly gag-based. At times, it feels more like a ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) movie (Airplane, the Naked Guns) then the sequel to an irresistible favorite that truly created a unique comical world.

Myers has stepped on these landmines before. He lacks faith in his own comic brilliance. He'll create a unique, resonant character only to tire of it. In fact, the longer Myers plays a character, the more it becomes every character from his repertoire. At one point in Shagged, Dr. Evil becomes verklept, just like Myers' Saturday Night Live Coffee Talk character, Linda Richman. He also again does his Japanese shtick (see video clip) while his Fat Bastard is a Scot he's played many times before (though much heavier). It's a pattern we've seen before with Myers' Wayne's World offerings: Wayne's World 2 featured considerably more erratic character behavior and cheaper gags than Wayne's World, which in turn did so more than the original Saturday Night Live skits.

Not that the plot matters all that much here, but for the record, it's 1999, and Dr. Evil decides to use his new time machine to return to the '60s and steal Austin Powers' "mojo" (that ethereal substance which gives Powers his charisma, his libido, his, as Dr. Evil puts it, "what the French call, 'that I-don't-know-what'."). Dr. Evil also plans to destroy the world.

Austin Powers, meanwhile, sensing the loss of said "mojo," also returns to the '60s via his own time machine, a souped-up, late-model Volkswagon Beetle, to retrieve it. Powers also plans to save the world.

Along the way, Powers teams up with fellow spy and über-babe Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham). As the go-go booted, mini-skirted Shagwell, Graham looks like a blonde, nuclear bombshell. But her performance is occasionally vapid, lacking the fatale this femme could use. Since she has clearly exhibited considerable talent in other movies, Shagged director Jay Roach (who also directed the previous Austin Powers) may be to blame here for failing to extract better from her.

Rob Lowe, on the other hand, is the best surprise of the movie. Taking on Robert Wagner's role of Number 2-only 30 years younger-Lowe does a better Robert Wagner than Robert Wagner.

Undoubtedly, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me will extort laughter from you sooner or later. And sometimes, with good reason. But the good gags are diluted by too many cheap chuckles.

No doubt avoiding this sequel would make the offender a cultural pariah in many circles. But the good news is, those who do pass this one up won't have to worry about missing much in the way of additional lexicon. There's no new "shag-a-delic" here. You might, however, want to try shutting someone up, a la Dr. Evil, by using this potential new buzz-phrase: "www.sssshhhh.com.org." Otherwise, just continue raising your pinky to your mouth, ever so Evil-like.

Written by Rob Medich