When we last saw Dr. Evil and Austin Powers (both played by gifted "SNL" veteran Mike Myers) in 1997's "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" the former had shot himself into outer space on a giant Big Boy space ship while the latter settled down and married secret British agent Vanessa Kensington (Liz Hurley). Before "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me's" catchy-sounding credit sequence is finished seven minutes into the movie Austin is single again, the result of Vanessa being a deadly Fembot all along (shocker!). After that we watch Dr. Evil announce to the world he's back by appearing on Jerry Springer's trashy talk show, settle in his new headquarters atop Seattle's Needle Point building (sponsored by his evil empire's secret business, Starbucks) and plot how to take revenge against his nemesis Austin Powers and hold the world hostage with a deadly threat. Joining his inner clan of Number Two (Robert Wagner), Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling) and misunderstood son Scott Evil (Seth Green), Dr. Evil discovers that in his absence a clone 1/8th his size was created. Falling in love with this freakishly-cute version of himself, Dr. Evil names this clone of his Mini-Me (Verne Troyer, easily stealing the movie).

The villain sets in motion a plan to travel back in time and go back to 1969 in order to steal the mojo out of Powers' cryogenically frozen body. Once there he meets with younger versions of Frau Farbissina (Sterling looking exactly the same as in 1999) and Number Two (Rob Lowe, of "West Wing" and "America's Funniest Home Videos" fame :-P) as well as the henchman that actually steals Powers' mojo, a disgruntled Scottish pipe music player called Fat Bastard (Mike Myers, again!) that weighs a metric ton (and looks it too). Dr. Evil also plans to use the 'La-Ser' (quotation marks with both hands) from his 'Death Star' base on the moon to destroy Washington D.C. and extort the President of the United States (Tim Robbins) for... (pinkie finger to the mouth) 100 BILLION DOLLARS!. Only Austin Powers can stop Dr. Evil's plans, so he's also sent back to 1969 by Basil Exposition (Michael York) to team-up with CIA agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham). Can the duo track down Dr. Evil in time to save the world from his nefarious plans? Even more important, will Austin be able to get his mojo back in time for he and Ms. Shagwell to get it on?

Unlike its prequel's mediocre-at-best box office performance, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" was one the 1999's biggest summer hits and, IMHO, one of the funniest and best comedy sequels ever spawned from a promising first installment. With a bigger budget that was more able to convey director Jay Roach and star/writer Mike Myers' vision, this sequel wisely gives the villain as much time and screen presence as the movie's hero. From his inane rantings to son Scott during a taping of "The Jerry Springer Show" to a duet rap version with his clone, "The Spy Who Shagged Me" is Dr. Evil and Mini-Me's show. The supporting performances by Graham (her best since "Boogie Nights"), Sterling, York, Lowe, Green, Troyer and York are spot-on, but they're at the mercy of being compared to Myers' brilliant portrayal of three heavily made-up and different characters (including one, Fat Bastard, that extends the comedian's obsession with playing Scottish men first shown in 1994's "So I Married An Ax Murderer"). Only Peter Sellers and Eddie Murphy have been able to achieve the suspension of disbelief that Myers does in both "Austin Powers" sequels.

While the first "Austin Powers" satirized the James Bond movies and 60's spy TV shows/flicks like "I Like Flint" and "The Avengers", "The Spy Who Shagged Me" tries to cram as many contemporary movie/TV references and physical gags that go beyond the obvious genre references (especially those related to "Moonraker", the Bond movie being pillaged the most for ideas). While this leads to quite a few attempts at humor that bomb badly (like the ill-conceived scene in which Austin drinks Fat Bastard's shit while thinking its coffee that tastes 'a little bit nutty'), most of the jokes and absurd scenes in this sequel are a treasure chest of inspired lunacy. Some of it, like the purposeful insertion of a CG Los Angeles hill in the middle of what's supposed to be downtown London (or a regular hill that got in the shot by accident), is so subtle that it doesn't register until the second, third or latter viewing. It's so good a sequel, in fact, that "Austin Powers in Goldmember" reruns a lot of the same gags that worked so well in "The Spy Who Shagged Me" a second time around.

If you haven't done so in a while (or the new "Austin Powers" movie makes you feel nostalgic), make it a point to re-watch or rent this movie to be reminded of what good sequels should be like (but rarely are).

1/2