4. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Sequel To: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, a spoof of the James Bond series which cemented Mike Myers' pop culture status after the success of
Wayne's World 1 &
2.
Who Made It?: Jay Roach, who also helmed the first film. No excuses then.
Why Was It Made?: Austin Powers was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, coinciding with the Cool Britannia trends in Britain and the recent re-launch of the Bond series with
Goldeneye. Having taken nearly $68m on a budget of $16.5m, the sums clearly added up.
Why Is It So Bad?: While many sequels feel like cheap cash-ins,
The Spy Who Shagged Me is certainly one of the most cynical. While the first film was adolescent in places, it did intelligently explore and send up the clichés of the spy thriller in amongst all the gross-out humour. In the sequel all that has been replaced by lazier, more repetitive jokes, cheap references to
Star Wars (cashing in on the Special Editions) and a plot which fulfils on none of the potential of the film's central conceit (Austin Powers losing his mojo). It's also really mean-spirited, believing that both fat people and little people are inherently funny, especially when they are being humiliated.
What Happened Next: A second sequel,
Austin Powers in Goldmember, arrived three years later to mixed reviews. A fourth film has been mooted for many years. Myers went on to find success in the
Shrek series, while Roach later made
Meet the Parents.