Year: 2002
Directed By: Jay Roach
Written By: Mike Myers
RYAN’S REVIEW
Anybody who forgets how big of a hit The Spy That Shagged Me was they need only to see the opening of this movie to remember. You don’t get this many fantastic cameos in a second sequel unless you had a lot of success the last time around. Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears (before she went crazy), Danny Devito, and Kevin Spacey (right after winning the academy award for American Beauty mind you) all making appearances in an excellent intro. However, despite the great opening I remember walking away from this movie very disappointed. Looking back I don’t know if I had outgrown it, I was 18 when it came out, or if Austin Powers was a Twentieth century star that just couldn’t cut it in the Twenty First. I think there are certain parts of this film that work well, like the beginning, but overall I find it disappointing. The storyline where the main characters went to prep school as children is stupid, it’s kind of a funny scene because that kid playing Dr. Evil is great, but this is a stupid storyline nevertheless. Beyonce and Mike Myers don’t have great chemistry, not to mention Beyonce is awful, and her character went a little too heavy on the clichés. She is a beautiful woman and I will not deny her talent as an entertainer, but she didn’t impress me with her first acting performance. I also think making Austin Powers and Dr. Evil brothers was a horrible idea. In the last film Dr. Evil was claiming to be Austin’s father and Austin seemed to want to believe it, for them to be twins later is stupid. Not even the great Michael Caine could save this film as the father of Austin and Dr. Evil.
We didn’t own this movie before starting this blog, I thought we should cover it though and I’m proud to admit buying a new copy for .79 cents on Amazon.com. With shipping it ended up being 3 dollars and something but I still consider that a steal. While I may not like this movie I can admit that it is funny. There are several things I like about it. Dr. Evil is still an awesome character and for most of the movie he is very funny, Josh Zuckerman who plays the young Dr. Evil was great. While he couldn’t save the movie from disappointment Michael Caine was still very funny nonetheless. I liked that Fred Savage was in this movie but I don’t really get the mole thing. Did Mike Myers just have a cache of mole jokes he needed a platform for? I wasn’t thrilled with Mini-Me switching sides and becoming a Mini-Austin but Verne Troyer is great in the role. I’ve never been a big Seth Green fan but he does have his moment in this film.
This movie is worth your time for many reasons, but it is the weakest of the trilogy. Despite that, at .79 cents a pop on Amazon I’d say it was worth your money as well but I’ll leave that up to you. It may have flaws but it’s still funny, and if you enjoyed the first two you should definitely see it.
AMBER’S REVIEW
“Moley, moley, moley, moley.”
NEXT MOVIE: Avatar (2009)
The Movie Snobs 