“You’re the Diet Coke of evil, just one calorie, not evil enough.”

Justin’s Rating: Double entendre city

Justin’s Review: Austin Powers is back – and he’s looking a little worse for wear. After a “just for giggles” opening nude dance sequence, we return to the world of Austin Powers (who discovers that his wife was just a fembot… what?) and Dr. Evil (hanging out on the Jerry Springer show). After this, Dr. Evil devises a time machine, travels back to the ’60s, and comes up with a “moon laser” plot that Austin, chasing him back in time, must defeat. The time travel element is briefly confusing, but soon you forget about it and just let the film do whatever it’s doing.

Mike Myers (who does Austin, Dr. Evil, and the new and over-the-top gross Fat Bastard) is still on a comedy high, but I feel he needs to learn when to drop the stupid stuff to make way for innovation. Austin Powers is paunchier and less offensive than the first movie, tirelessly spouting out “oh behave” and “do I make you horny?” for the two people who still find it amusing. Yet aging as Austin is, Dr. Evil still holds scads of promise. His new sidekick, a 1/8-to-scale clone called Mini-Me, provides a lot of material to bounce off of (including a side-splitting musical duo of “Just The Two Of Us”). Seth Green as Dr. Evil’s son continues to ridicule his father in typical Gen X fashion (“You’re a loser. Loser!”). He and Number Two (played by both Robert Wagner and Rob Lowe in the various time periods) don’t get a lot of screen time, but they are worth watching for.

Austin’s new partner, played by Heather Graham, is quite bewildering in her presence. She’s basically a female version of Austin, with the same lines and less body hair, and far less funny.

Although I’d say this film is only about half original material and half stuff from the first movie, it’s still funnier than most of the stuff you’ll see this year. Sight gags are great when done right, and Austin 2 has a few up its sleeve (particularly dealing with Dr. Evil’s new spaceship). Dr. Evil tries a little too much to be hip in an unhip way (such as saying “girlfriend,” at which I winced), but he’s still a cult hero for the nineties. His single-mindedness to take over the world — even though he owns billions and billions — is refreshing in our current PC-terrorist movie trend. Austin has certainly entered the mainstream of pop culture, yet I think the franchise might be at the end of its freshness.

On the other hand, I really wouldn’t mind seeing an entire feature film about Mr. Bigglesworth.

PoolMan’s Rating: 6 out of 10 Gummi worms suspended in sparkly water… what the hell?

PoolMan’s Review: I am just like most of you out there in Mutant Reviewers readerdom (I used to be a mortal too!). I saw Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and was immediately under the impression that I could mimic Mike Myers’ off-the-wall quotes perfectly. I was the man… telling my girlfriend she was “groovy, baby,” and that sort of thing. That movie spawned a legion of office-comic impressionists, and instantly created itself a cult following. I couldn’t be happier.

But I might humbly suggest that if the trend between Austin Powers and Austin Powers 2 continues, we needn’t see a third one. I am sticking myself firmly in the position that while I DID enjoy The Spy Who Shagged Me (hee hee!), I have the uneasy feeling that the first movie won’t be topped. The first had too much going for it: brash new humour, interesting characters, and wonderful blend of novelty and nostalgia. Unfortunately, the only one that really carried through to the sequel was the characters.

And in its characters is where this flick shines. Mini-Me is a laugh riot. Seeing him run around doing evil things is endlessly amusing (as a local DJ on CFOX radio here in Vancouver said a few weeks back, “Any movie with a midget biting people in the nuts is okay with me. That’s what we need more of. More midgets bitin’ people in the nuts!” Hi Willy!). Fat Bastard is also a scream. Yes, there is a revolting scene with him in bed, but it didn’t turn my stomach the way I was told it would. I guess cause I’m a guy, and would never catch the Bastard’s fancy. Ewwwww… It’s also really amusing seeing Rob Lowe as the young Number 2. He actually did a fantastic impression of his older self. Too bad it wasn’t used more.

And on the subject of Felicity Shagwell, she’s really extraneous (aside from pretty yummy eye candy). But when you make a movie about a “super sexy” British spy, you had better include a female lead! Oh well. Here’s to the formula!

Anyways, Austin Powers 2 is still a lot of fun, but don’t expect anything to really topple Austin Powers for originality. Check it out when it hits video, for sure!

Kyle’s Rating: At least the first one was good

Kyle’s Review: I’m going to be harsh here, because the excellence of the first Austin Powers movie deserves it. The Spy Who Shagged Me is garbage. Yep, that’s right. GARBAGE! A great soundtrack with that fantastic Madonna song is all I got out of this steaming pile. Yeah, there’s Mini-Me and Fat Bastard added to the mix. Heather Graham wears shagalicious 60’s garb. Dr. Evil’s portions are the highlights, though that isn’t saying much.

For me, Austin Powers 2 is just a mess, because they go out of their way to be bigger and better, but the whole time you get the sense this movie is a spoof of the first one. But the first Austin Powers (which ruled) was a spoof itself of the James Bond and other spy movies! A spoof of a spoof is not a funny spoof, it is garbage.

Yes, I bought this movie, so I’ll own it till the day I die. And I’ll probably even watch it again once or twice, because there are one or two amusing bits in there. But held up against the pure light of the first and endlessly entertaining original, The Spy Who Shagged Me just can’t hold up.

I do owe this movie one small thing: the cementing in my head that I am a better person than most of the unwashed masses out there going to movies (NOTE: if you are reading this review, then you are good. Revel is your superiority!). The first Austin Powers movie (did I mention how great the first one is? It is!) made about $53 million during its entire theater run. This inferior sequel made more than that in the first weekend. Argh! Damn you, easily fooled consumers! Damn you!