Ridiculous in every capacity, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - the 1999 sequel to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery - is the sort of follow-up that works perfectly if you like Austin Powers. If the first movie wasn't your cup of tea, though, the second is likely to go down even worse. But who, really, can deny the absurd charms of what is arguably Mike Myers' most appealing comic creation? The Spy Who Shagged Me, whose provocative title seemed near-on unbelievable to UK teens back in '99, follows on from its predecessor as a bizzaro world Bond spoof, this time tackling the likes of Diamonds Are Forever, You Only Live Twice, Moonraker and The Man With the Golden Gun. It is an entirely juvenile experience, wherein most of the laughs are just rehashed versions of jokes sprung from the original - somehow, it's still funny. Indeed, there are presumably lots of Austin Powers aficionados (is there such a thing?) who would be quick to cite this flick as "better than the the first." Indeed, Heather Graham makes for an effortlessly cool and sexy sidekick to Myers' own Austin Powers, and the jokes - fairly hit and miss at times - are admirably relentless. All in all, it's hard to imagine how Myers could have contrived a better sequel given the property he had to work with.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
