|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 254--6/8/99 <-------  ||  OsoaWeek  ||  Issues  ||  Book 20  ||  -------> (Cup OWis254, Created v3 (10/3/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ------------------- OSOAWEEK Ezine of Obliviana Issue 254, 6/8/99 by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana ----------- ------------------- HEMISINISTER REVIEW ----------- ***AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME*** 6/10/99 This is an ugly, crummy, self-indulgent film. It's obvious that Mike Meyers got way too full of himself with the success of the first movie. I feel pretty goddamn insulted, paying $10 to see shit like this. It's a feeling not unlike right after I saw the movie "Toys". Well, I don't wanna go that far. This is nowhere near as bad as "Toys" or "The English Patient". But it is bad. And it's especially bad considering how good the first "Austin Powers" was. The first movie was awesome--and I really believe that it was a happy accident. If you analyze the earlier film piece by piece, it doesn't seem so great. But it has an awesome rhythm, a great pacing, and a logic all its own. This sequel, on the other hand, is like a bad "Saturday Night Live" parody of Austin Powers that goes on WAY too long (complete with Will Farrell). This is Thursday night, and I just saw a "sneak preview" of the movie. They called it a "sneak preview" on MovieFone, even though it opens tomorrow. Oh well. But anyway, I realize that with the first movie, you had to see it a few times before its awesomeness became apparent. I can tell you with absolute certainty that such is NOT the case with "The Spy Who Shagged Me". First of all, almost every single joke and gag in this movie is based on the jokes and gags in the first movie. And in this context, they're just not funny. There's hardly anything new in this film. It's like fan fiction. It's like a fucking unfunny parody. Let me go over some elements of the film that are horrible. This is spoiler-type material, for anyone who cares. First of all, Vanessa turns out to have been a "Fembot" all along. This is stupid and not at all funny or interesting. Next, the Heather Graham character, "Felicity Shagwell", is the most one-dimensional character I've ever seen. All she wants to do is fuck Austin Powers. I swear, that's her entire character. The first movie had some heart, some humanity. This movie has NONE. And Meyers plays a third character in this movie, "Fat Bastard". This character is just plain nauseating, and not in any kind of a humorous way. There's an implication that the character is some kind of cannibal who eats human babies. Why? What the hell was Mike Meyers thinking? Here's my theory on the movie. Mike Meyers and a few other people sat around and threw out a bunch of ideas for about an hour, and every single one of them wound up in the movie. I guess Meyers must have had so much power from the success of the first movie that no one dared criticize his awful ideas. Now, there are a few funny moments, mostly in the form of pop-culture references. And "Mini-Me", the midget clone of Dr. Evil, has a few good scenes. But these few moments are lost in a sea of total shit. So, I have to give this film an F, and a ZERO. I was really looking forward to this movie, and I'm HUGELY disappointed. Fuck Mike Meyers for doing this. ------------------- LORD OF OBLIVIANA ----------- Sunday, 6/20/99, 10:24 PM Well, there it is, my review of Austin Powers 2. I wrote it ten days ago, and I still stick by it. Well, I gotta write the next issue of OsoaWeek now, so I'll see ya over there! Get all Obliviana. ------------------- SONG OF THE WEEK ----------- Underworld, "Bruce Lee" (Album: "Beaucoup Fish") ------------------- END ----------- -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----