June 18, 1999
By Ted Anthony
NEW YORK - It's frequently obvious, often potty-mouthed and occasionally outright gross. It's ``Beavis and Butthead'' meets James Bond meets Benny Hill. But, guilty as you feel, you can't help but laugh.
``Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' marks the return of the toothsome international man of mystery conceived and realized by the versatile Mike Myers. It's thin on plot and heavy on the detritus of pop culture - and knows it. No one else but Myers, a one-man Marx Brothers for the 1990s, could carry this off.
And carry it off he does. This is screen candy of the sweetest kind.
The momentum of the first film, whose weird, self-conscious humor took a while to get off the ground, propels the sequel into hilarious territory. In the forefront is former ``Saturday Night Live'' comic Myers, who portrays three characters of decidedly different girths and motivations.
The premise: 1960s British uber-spy and sex symbol Austin Powers, whose chest is still woven with a multitude of hair and whom we last saw stuck in 1997 after being cryogenically frozen by his nemesis, Dr. Evil (also Myers), is honeymooning with his lovely bride Vanessa (Elizabeth Hurley).
To his surprise, however, Vanessa proves to be a ``fembot'' dispatched to kill him. She explodes and he escapes, only to face off against Dr. Evil again. This time, the ``plot'' involves a time machine, a plot to destroy Washington (code-named ``The Alan Parsons Project'') and a new love interest, the luscious American agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham).
Evil, using a time machine, goes back to 1969 to steal Powers' ``mojo'' (his libido), rendering him unable to perform in the charismatic manner for which he's renowned. Powers, aghast, chases Evil back in time to recover his mojo - and, incidentally, save Nixon-era America, led inexplicably by a distinctly non-Nixonian president (Tim Robbins).
In the process we meet the young Number Two (Rob Lowe, playing the younger version of Robert Wagner); the steely sidekick Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling, riffing off Lotte Lenya's ruthless agent in ``From Russia With Love''); and Mini-Me (Verne J. Troyer), the pint-sized Dr. Evil clone who doesn't talk, bites people and must occasionally be subdued with a spray bottle.
The whole thing's preposterous, of course, which is what makes it so much fun. An array of celebrity cameos - from Kristen Johnson to Woody Harrelson to Willie Nelson - makes it all the more engaging.
It was easy to dismiss Myers, a master of characterization, as stupid in his first appearance as Austin Powers. He was. But Myers' brand of idiocy grows on you after multiple viewings.
What makes this annoying, puerile hedonist so likable? Myers' Powers is primarily a cartoon figure, aware of - and awash in - his own over-the-topness. He drives a Shaguar. He has visible sweat stains under his arms. His teeth look like abandoned railroad tracks. He's annoying, but he's beguiling, too, because he's so unabashedly exuberant and doesn't care what anyone around him thinks.
Equally adorable is Myers' Dr. Evil, a bald, Goldfinger-like baddie who's out of step with the times and can't communicate with his smart-mouthed son, Scott Evil (Seth Green). They appear on Jerry Springer, where Evil gets into a fight with a Klansman.
He also has trouble with romance. ``I can't let my feelings for you get in the way of my taking over the world,'' he tells Frau Farbissina.
Frustrated, Evil clones himself and produces Mini-Me, a horrible little munchkin with a penchant for small-scale destruction and a need for the occasional hug. But they love each other and do things together, like playing a piano duet of ``What If God Was One of Us'' for an array of henchpeople.
Myers' third character, an impossibly obese Scotsman, is less appealing. His panoply of bodily noises and his profane mouth are laughable at first but quickly grow annoying. Myers does a great Scottish accent (remember the ``All Things Scottish'' skit on SNL?), but the character is too over the top even for an ``Austin Powers'' movie.
Can Austin get his mojo back? Can a pop-culture hodgepodge that cites ``The Exorcist,'' Wang Chung and the most tender moments of ``Jerry Maguire'' hand Myers a second hit? Can Elvis Costello keep making cameos in movies ad infinitum?
Yes, yes, and probably. In the meantime, go see ``Austin Powers.'' You'll leave the theater feeling a little soiled but with a smile on your face.
Return
to Frontpage