The most commercially successful movie in the Austin Powers series, 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 Best Makeup (Michèle Burke and Mike Smithson).[4][5] It is followed by Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).
Plot
In 1999, time-displaced 1960s British spy Austin Powers enjoys his honeymoon with his wife, Vanessa Kensington. However, Vanessa is soon revealed to be a fembot controlled by Dr. Evil. Vanessa attacks Austin, then self-destructs. Austin grieves briefly before realizing he is single again and can have sex without commitment. Meanwhile, a NATO monitoring facility observes Dr. Evil's return from space, where he reunites with his estranged son, Scott, while he appears on The Jerry Springer Show. Scott is frustrated to see his father, and a fight ensues between multiple people on the show.
At Dr. Evil's Space Needle lair in Seattle, he is presented with a dwarf clone of himself, whom he names Mini-Me. Dr. Evil outlines a plan to time travel back to the 1960s and steal Austin's mojo, the source of his sexual appeal. Dr. Evil and Mini-Me travel to 1969, meeting a younger Number 2 and Frau Farbissina. Fat Bastard, another henchman of Dr. Evil, extracts Austin's mojo from his frozen body at the Ministry of Defence (MOD). British intelligence warns Austin that one of Dr. Evil's agents is after him. The agent, Ivana Humpalot, seduces Austin but decides not to kill him. After they have sex, Austin discovers he has lost his mojo and is impotent.
The MOD sends Austin to 1969 using a time-traveling Volkswagen New Beetle. Austin arrives at a party in his London pad. With the assistance of CIA agent Felicity Shagwell, Austin escapes an assassination attempt by Dr. Evil's operatives. Austin and Felicity are pursued by Mustafa, another of Dr. Evil's henchmen, but manage to subdue him. Mustafa reveals the existence of Dr. Evil's volcano lair. Before he can divulge its location, Mini-Me causes him to fall from a cliff.
Examining photographs from the crime scene, Austin discovers Fat Bastard stole his mojo. Fat Bastard presents Austin's mojo to Dr. Evil, who drinks some of it and has sex with Frau Farbissina. Scott arrives through the time portal. Dr. Evil announces he will hold the world ransom by threatening to destroy cities using a laser located on the Moon. Austin and Felicity get to know each other, but when Felicity propositions him for sex, he turns her down because of his lost mojo.
Under MOD instructions to implant a homing device into Fat Bastard, Felicity has sex with him, enabling her to plant the device in his anus. Fat Bastard forces it out of his bowels into a 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 escape their cell after Felicity distracts the guard by flashing her breasts at him.
Dr. Evil and Mini-Me leave for the Moon to install the laser, pursued by Austin and Felicity on Apollo 11. At Dr. Evil's Moon base, Austin battles Mini-Me, eventually flushing him into space. He then confronts Dr. Evil, who 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, then 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 attempts to assassinate Austin, but Felicity disarms him. Felicity and Austin throw a party. In 1969, Dr. Evil recovers Mini-Me from space and vows revenge on Austin. On The Jerry Springer Show, Scott learns he is the love child of Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina, much to his delight. Austin returns to his pad to discover Felicity with the past Austin, who claims that since he and Austin are the same person, he is not cheating.
There were two variations of the posters; one of them asterisked out the middle of the offending word "shag".[citation needed] Other posters had named the film as Austin Powers 2.[6] 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.[7]
Singapore considered changing the title to The Spy Who Shioked Me (shiok derives from the Malay word, syok, which means, "to feel good").[6]
Reception
Box office
The Spy Who Shagged Me was a hit at the box office, landing the top position in its opening weekend grossing $54.9 million from a then-record 3,315 theaters. Its debut total was more than the entire gross of its predecessor (the first sequel to ever achieve this), set a record for a June opening (beating Batman Forever's 1995 record), and was the biggest opening ever for a comedy.[1][8][9] For four years, it would hold the June opening weekend record until 2003 when Hulk surpassed it.[10] The film grossed $206 million domestically and $312 million worldwide.[2]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Provides lots of laughs with Myers at the helm; as funny or funnier than the original."[11] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[13]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a 2.5 stars out of 4, noting that it has "big laughs" but also that "too many scenes end on a flat note, like those Saturday Night Live sketches that run out of steam before they end."[14]
Soundtrack
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: Music from the Motion Picture
Another single "American Woman" by Lenny Kravitz, was released as a single and was later included in the 1999 reissue of Kravitz's album 5. The cover reached the top 20 in Australia, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, and Spain, as well as number 26 in Canada and number 49 on the US BillboardHot 100. Kravitz's version is slower and softer than the original, without the signature guitar solo; he later said to Randy Bachman that the reason why he skipped the lead guitar part was "I couldn't get the sound. I couldn't get the tone."[19] The music video (directed by Paul Hunter) featured actress Heather Graham (who starred in The Spy Who Shagged Me); the original political themes of the song were largely replaced by sex appeal. In 1999, Kravitz and his band were joined by The Guess Who for a live performance of "American Woman" at the MuchMusic Video Awards. It was also used as the theme song of the Madusa monster truck in monster jam events.
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.
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.
