I stand corrected--back in June, I declared:

"I can't wait to revisit Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery failed to light up my life the first time I saw it; I felt no urge afterwards to utter Austin's catchphrases, among them "Yeah, baby, yeah" and "Shag-adelic!" Subsequent viewings of the film somehow improved its comedy; by the time I received Austin Powers... on DVD for Christmas, I was a full-fledged fan. The Spy Who Shagged Me features as many guffaws as its predecessor, but I left the screening feeling again amused but unenamoured."

It's actually not much better a second time, and without five-hundred of my closest friends acting as a laugh track, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's languid pace comes to the fore.

This sequel picks up almost immediately where the first picture left off. After the luminous Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) makes a startling revelation to Austin (Myers) during their honeymoon, the superspy is off once again to do battle with Dr. Evil (also Myers). This time, the bald, scarred, pale madman has devised a time machine, which he uses to go back to the sixties. There, with the aid of his pint-size clone Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) and an obese bagpiper (who eats babies) named Fat Bastard (Myers--always a cut-up when he puts on a Scottish accent--in repulsive make-up), he locates Austin Powers' cryogenically frozen body and steals his "mojo."

Nineties Austin is thereby rendered impassive to espionage and randy women, so he travels thirty years into the past to get his groove back. At his old pad, he hooks up with sexy Felicity Shagwell (heart melting, doe-eyed Graham), and together they search for Dr. Evil's volcanic lair. Despite much crass humour that follows (including an endless anal sex jape), The Spy Who Shagged Me is ultimately sweet. The film covers no new ground in terms of homage to bygone spy thrillers, and very little of the humour is innovative, but its genteel tone somewhat smoothes over the laughless bumps.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is only casually interested in telling us a complete story. Mostly, it's a showcase for Myers' range and improvisational skills. (Duh.) Austin, Dr. Evil, and Fat Bastard are such distinct characters that one will not likely scan for split-screen lines when any combination of them is on camera together. "Distinct," however, doesn't necessarily mean "rich." Austin, for all his signature attributes (the rotting teeth, the velvet suits, the soundbite-ready dialogue), sends up popular British TV and movie secret agents who were never taken seriously in the first place.

Watch a swinger like "The Avengers"' John Steed (played with pursed-lip winkingness by Patrick MacNee in several incarnations of the TV favourite) or the mod criminals Steed pursued in action and you'll see prototypes for Austin Powers rather than ripe targets for parody. Austin the man is a one-note joke whose only real appeal is his promiscuity--it's been too long since we've had a hero who lives and breathes for sex. (Aside: Austin once again prances around buck naked, but his private parts aren't so cleverly disguised in The Spy Who Shagged Me--in fact, digital trickery appears to have erased them altogether.)

In other words, Austin is droll but Dr. Evil is the star of this show. Much funnier than Austin's non-sequitur gags, such as a lame montage involving the Queen's guards set to "I'm a Believer", are Dr. Evil's non-sequitur gags. It is through the desperately uncool Dr. Evil that Myers and company skewer: the Jerry Springer show (in two very sharp sequences--be sure to stay through the end credits); 1996's The Island of Dr. Moreau remake (Dr. Evil and Mini-Me perform a hilarious piano duet of Joan Osborne's "One of Us"); Jerry Maguire; time travel movies; and, of course, James Bond. There are also lively subplots involving Dr. Evil's sampling of Austin's mojo and the strained relationship between the doctor and his logic-prone son, Scott (Green). (As before, Scott is constantly told to shut up by his father, here in umpteen variations on "zip it." My favourite: "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, exzipit 'A.'")

As one highly evolved reader of Film Freak Central pointed out to me, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me became the highest grossing comedy of the millennium. (I guess Home Alone, Back to the Future, or Ghostbusters don't count.) It was a no-brainer for New Line Home Video to go all out for their DVD release of what is at the very least the studio's biggest hit to date; for sheer quantity of content, this Platinum Series package puts a lot of special editions, even some of New Line's own, to shame. The full-motion menus alone represent progress. (See how long you can hold on an option before the animations loop back to the start--I didn't have that much patience!) As groovy music plays, in 5.1 Dolby Digital sound, Austin politely gestures towards some selections; others come flying out of his mouth. At one point, during the Special Features screen, Austin takes off on a rocket, leaving a giant "E" in his wake--this letter icon is clickable: you'll be taken to a Dr. Evil-specific interface with a separate set of supplemental options. One drawback: the white background is hard on the eyes.

The video transfer has been deemed a mixed-shag by other DVD-related websites; nonsense: it's great. If anything, the picture is too perfect--there's something vaguely artifical about the 2.35:1 letterboxed, 16x9-enhanced images. The transfer's strength is extraordinary colour--even the grays of Dr. Evil's hideout are forceful. The first party scene in Austin's 60s pad must have been a nightmare for the telecine operator; astoundingly, those vivacious reds, blues, and yellows never bleed (they do on the VHS tape--I viewed a screener cassette earlier in the fall) or pixellate. Unlike the first Austin Powers disc, this one does not also contain a pan-and-scan version. (There wasn't room.)

The sound on this disc really impressed me. Though this fact is not identified on the cover art, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is the first movie presented in THX Surround EX for home use. To listen to this track, you'll require a THX-certified Dolby Digital receiver, an inexpensive EX decoder, and extra satellite speakers for the rears. Lucky for me and for those of you who also own only basic DD equipment, the THX Surround EX track (technically 6.1) is folded back into 5.1 for standard DD presentation.

The 5.1 mix is better than the first movie's flat-sounding DD. Surround activity is minimal except during songs ("American Woman"--the Guess Who original, not the abominable Lenny Kravitz cover--kicks ass in six-track sound), but bass is constant and deep. Dr. Evil's rocket ship blasting off will likely peel your wallpaper at reference level (it shook my lamps), as will Austin's Shaguar zooming all the way back to the past. Dialogue is smooth and natural sounding. A Dolby Surround mix is included for the digitally-impaired.

Now for the extras, most of them produced by Platinum Series regular Mark Rance:

Audio Commentary
Director Roach and the two Mikes (Myers and co-screenwriter McCullers) reflect on the spontaneous shoot and trade barbs. Much of the talk is about what influenced the look, the feel, the plot, and the jokes of both Austins.

Deleted Scenes
Ten deleted scenes plus assorted outtakes, chapter encoded and totalling 20 minutes. Some of these omissions were criminal, such as Dr. Evil's bizarre confessional to Springer's audience and the sadistic return of Robin Swallows. Austin Powers drinking shit and accidentally swallowing a chess piece makes the final cut, but Fat Bastard complimenting Rob Lowe on a nice ass doesn't? I hope they let me edit the next Austin.

Music Videos
Has Madonna ever been sexier than in her video for "Beautiful Stranger"? (It pains me to write that this is actually a decent clip, since Brett "Rush Hour" Ratner directed it.) Has Lenny Kravitz ever sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than in his "American Woman" cover? Has Scary Spice given some serious thought to finding a real job? Her contribution, "Word Up", is garbage, and this video boasts the poorest picture quality of the three. 2.0 stereo, all, except for "American Woman", which is in Dolby Surround--not a bonus.

Behind The Scenes Documentary
More polished than any of New Line's previous making-ofs and much less involving. Maybe I'm just too indifferent to the Austin Powers phenomenon to care what went into choreographing the dance sequences and things like that. (Aside: please tell me Jay Roach is funnier on set.)

Canned Ham: "Spyography-The Dr. Evil Story"
A 20-minute advertisement posing as a spoof of "Biography", hosted by Robert Culp of "I Spy" fame. They've got the A&E style down pat, but if it were really sharp, it would've explored facets of Dr. Evil's personality we hadn't already learned of from watching the two Austin films. (Or maybe it's commenting on the superficiality of the A&E series, in which case it's brilliant.) Produced by Comedy Central.

Classic Evil Schemes Gone Awry
This text section outlines in detail how James Bond, Matt Helm, Derek Flint, and Harry Palmer foiled the plans of many a fictional supervillain. Points up how formulaic these superspy movies really are.

Music Cues/Cameo Cues
Jump straight to Dr. Evil's two performances with Mini-Me; jump straight to the famous faces that pepper Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, etc.)

Trailers
5.1, 16x9 enhanced, four trailers in total; three for the sequel (Shrewd Marketing 101: they hitched Austin to The Phantom Menace hype), one for the original.

DVD-ROM Content
If you have a DVD-ROM, enjoy:

• Level One of the Austin Powers Operation: Trivia game
• The entire official Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me website, housed on the disc
• Web browsers and screen savers
• Interactive Austin episodes
• Up-to-date cast and crew bios (up-to-1999 cast and crew bios can be accessed with a stand-alone DVD player as well)

Inside the snapper case you'll find a book of coupons that offer a total savings value of $300 on various items. The most absurd: an Austin Powers VISA card.

New Line, you have spoiled Austin Powers fans everywhere. Though I'm on the sidelines of the fad, I really enjoyed perusing this DVD.-Bill Chambers

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