Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jay Roach
Produced by
Written by
Based on Characters
by Mike Myers
Starring
Music by George S. Clinton
Cinematography Ueli Steiger
Edited by
Production
companies
  • Eric's Boy
  • Moving Pictures
  • Team Todd
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date
  • June 11, 1999 (1999-06-11) (United States)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $33 million[1]
Box office $312 million

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is the second installment in a series of American comedy films directed by Jay Roach. It stars franchise co-producer and writer Mike Myers as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, and Fat Bastard. The film also stars Heather Graham, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, and Elizabeth Hurley.[2] The film's title is a play on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

The film grossed around $312 million in worldwide ticket sales, taking more money during its opening weekend than the entire box office proceeds of its predecessor. It was nominated at the 72nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Makeup (Michèle Burke and Mike Smithson).[3] It is followed by Austin Powers: Goldmember (2002).

Plot

In 1999, Austin Powers enjoys his honeymoon with his wife, the former Vanessa Kensington. She turns out to be one of Dr. Evil's fembots, who attempts to kill Austin, then self-destructs. Austin grieves briefly before realizing he is single again. A NATO monitoring facility observes the return of Dr. Evil, who confronts his son Scott and starts a coup on The Jerry Springer Show. At Dr. Evil's Seattle headquarters, Dr. Evil is presented with a one-eighth-size clone of himself whom he names Mini-Me.

Dr. Evil unveils his latest plan: he has developed a time machine to go back to the 1960s and steal Austin's mojo, his source of his sexual appeal. Dr. Evil and Mini-Me travel to 1969 and meet a younger Number Two and Frau Farbissina. An obese "Scottish Guard" called Fat Bastard extracts Austin's mojo from his frozen body at the Ministry of Defence. British intelligence warns Austin that one of Dr. Evil's agents is after him, and during a photo shoot the wanton Ivana Humpalot seduces him, but at the last moment claims he is too sexy to kill. They have sex, but he discovers he has lost his mojo and is impotent.

The MOD sends Austin to 1969 utilizing a time-travelling convertible Volkswagen New Beetle. Austin arrives at a party in his London pad, and with the assistance of CIA agent Felicity Shagwell escapes an assassination attempt by Dr. Evil's operatives. Austin and Felicity are pursued by Mustafa, another of Dr. Evil's henchmen; when caught he reveals the existence of Dr. Evil's volcano lair. Before he can divulge its location, Mini-Me shoots him with a dart, causing him to fall off a cliff.

Examining photographs from the crime scene, Austin identifies Fat Bastard as the perpetrator of the theft of his mojo. At Dr. Evil's lair, Fat Bastard arrives with Austin's mojo. Dr. Evil drinks some of it and has sex with Frau Farbissina. This results in an awkward situation when Frau reveals she is pregnant before Scott, Dr. Evil's son, arrives through the time portal. Dr. Evil announces his latest plan — to hold the world ransom by threatening to destroy cities using a laser on the Moon. In London, Austin and Felicity get to know each other, but when Felicity tries having sex with him, he turns her down because of his lost mojo.

Under MOD instructions to implant a homing device into Fat Bastard, Felicity seduces him, allowing her to plant it in his anus. Fat Bastard forces it out of his bowels into a Paddington Station toilet, but a stool sample reveals traces of a vegetable that only grows on one Caribbean island. Austin and Felicity arrive on the island but are apprehended. They are put in a cell with a guard who is overcome when Felicity exposes her breasts. Dr. Evil and Mini-Me leave for the Moon to install the laser pursued by Austin and Felicity on Apollo 11. In Dr. Evil's moon base, Austin battles with Mini-Me, eventually flushing him into space. As Austin confronts Dr. Evil, Dr. Evil gives him a choice: save the world or Felicity, who is locked in a chamber with poison gas.

Felicity tells Austin to save the world and he succeeds, but Felicity dies. Before Austin can kill him, Dr. Evil suggests Austin use the time machine to save both Felicity and the world. Austin travels ten minutes into the past, meeting up with himself and saving the world and Felicity. Dr. Evil initiates the self-destruct mechanism of the moon base and escapes after throwing Austin's mojo into the air. Both Austins fail to catch it and it is destroyed. Felicity points out that all the things Austin has done show that he never lost his mojo. They escape through the time portal to 1999.

At Austin's Pad, Fat Bastard makes another attempt to assassinate Austin, but Felicity disarms him. Felicity and Austin then throw a party. In 1969, Dr. Evil recovers Mini-Me from space and vows revenge. On Jerry Springer, Scott learns he is the love child of Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina. Austin returns to his pad to discover Felicity with the past Austin, who claims that since he and Austin are the same person, it is not cheating.

Cast

Production

Title censorship

When the film was released, the title proved controversial in the United Kingdom, where the word shag is used to refer coarsely to sexual intercourse. Two sets of British TV adverts for the film existed, for showing before and after the watershed. The former was designed to air during daytime hours and only gave part of the title (Austin Powers: The Spy Who—) before cutting off with one of a range of slightly suggestive scenes from the film, such as Austin squeezing out the contents of a massage oil bottle. The post-watershed adverts, aired later in the evening, gave the full title. There were also two variations of the posters; one of them asterisked out the middle of the offending word. Other posters had named the film as Austin Powers 2.[5] According to the Collins English Dictionary, the use of the word "shag" in the film's title helped to increase the word's acceptability, reducing its shock value and giving it a more jocular, relaxed connotation.[6]

Singapore considered a title change to The Spy Who Shioked Me (shiok means "to feel good").[5]

Soundtrack

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released June 1, 1999 (1999-06-01)
Recorded various
Genre Rock
pop
Length 52:30
Label Maverick
Producer Various artists
Austin Powers series chronology
Original Soundtrack: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
(1997)		 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Music from the Motion Picture
(1999)		 Austin Powers in Goldmember: Music from the Motion Picture
(2002)
Singles from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Music from the Motion Picture
  1. "Beautiful Stranger"
    Released: May 19, 1999
  2. "Word Up!"
    Released: June 28, 1999
More Music from the Motion Picture Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released October 26, 1999 (1999-10-26)
Genre Rock
pop
Length 60:00
Label Maverick
Producer Various Artists
Austin Powers series chronology
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
(1997)		 More Music from the Motion Picture Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
(1999)		 Austin Powers in Goldmember
(2002)

The movie's soundtrack contains the 1999 hit "Beautiful Stranger" by Madonna. The song won a Grammy Award in 2000. Mike Myers appears as Austin Powers in the video, directed by Brett Ratner.

Dr. Evil also sings a parody of Will Smith's popular 1997 cover of the Grover Washington Jr. classic "Just the Two of Us", referring in this case to his clone Mini-Me. The film's soundtrack had a rating of three stars at AllMusic.[7]

Track listing

  1. "Beautiful Stranger" – Madonna
  2. "My Generation" – The Who (live at BBC)
  3. "Draggin' the Line" – R.E.M.
  4. "American Woman" – Lenny Kravitz
  5. "Word Up!" – Melanie B (credited as Melanie G)
  6. "Just the Two of Us (Dr. Evil Mix)" – Dr. Evil (Mike Myers)
  7. "Espionage" – Green Day
  8. "Time of the Season" – Big Blue Missile/Scott Weiland
  9. "Buggin'" – The Flaming Lips
  10. "Alright" – The Lucy Nation
  11. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" – Burt Bacharach/Elvis Costello
  12. "Soul Bossa Nova (Dim's Space-A-Nova)" – Quincy Jones & His Orchestra

The soundtrack sold over one million copies in the United States and was certified Platinum. A second soundtrack was also released, entitled More Music From the Motion Picture.

More Music track listing "Dialogue"

  1. "Austin Meets Felicity" – Film Dialogue
  2. Mustafa's Three Question Rule – Film Dialogue

"More Music" track listing

  1. "Am I Sexy?" – Lords of Acid
  2. "I'm a Believer" – The Monkees
  3. "Magic Carpet Ride" – Steppenwolf
  4. "American Woman" – The Guess Who
  5. "Get the Girl" – The Bangles
  6. "Bachelord Pad" (FPM Edit) – Fantastic Plastic Machine
  7. "Let's Get It On" – Marvin Gaye
  8. "Crash!" – Propellerheads
  9. "Time of the Season" – The Zombies
  10. "Dr. Evil" – They Might Be Giants
  11. "The Austin Powers Shagaphonic Medley" – George S. Clinton
  12. "Beautiful Stranger" (Calderone Radio Mix) – Madonna

In addition, a score album featuring cues from both George S. Clinton scores (tracks 1–7 from the first film, track 8 an arrangement of Quincy Jones's "Soul Bossa Nova," and tracks 9–16 from the second) was released.

Chart positions

Weekly

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 40
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[10] 5
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[11] 87
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 88
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 6
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14] 30
US Billboard 200[10] 5

Year-end

Chart (1999) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 52

Reception

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 51%, based on 114 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading, "Provides lots of laughs with Myers at the helm; as funny or funnier than the original."[16] On Metacritic the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[17]

Box office

The Spy who Shagged Me had a strong box opening at number 1.[1][18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Natale, Richard (June 14, 1999). "Feelin' Pretty Groovy: 'Austin Powers,' the Spy Who's No. 1". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Nominees & Winners for the 72nd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  4. ↑ "NO JOKE ALMOST BY HERSELF, HEATHER GRAHAM TAKES AUSTIN POWERS SERIOUSLY". Chicago Tribune. June 17, 1999. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  5. 1 2 Breznican, Anthony (21 June 1999). "Translators tackle 'Austin Powers' lexicon". Ludington, Michigan: Ludington Daily News. p. 9. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "shag3". Collins Dictionary.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  7. ↑ Boldman, Gina. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me at AllMusic
  8. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Officialcharts.de – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Soundtrack – Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ "End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Albums 1999". ARIA Charts. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me". Metacritic. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  18. ↑ Weinraub, Bernard (June 14, 1999). "'Austin' Sequel Is Behaving Very Well At Box Office". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2010.

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