I must admit I came to Austin Powers II with a great sense of hope for the film and for Mike Myers. I argued long and hard that AP was one of the best comedies to come out of the 1990s, and I hoped that AP2 would be superior. The early word on the film was that it was enjoyable and even funnier than the first incarnation. The early word was wrong. Instead of a "real" caricature of the swinging sixties, we are subjected to a long series of bad jokes that don't know when to quit. Austin is wholly ridiculous, and any "conflict" that might exist between Felicity and Austin, Dr. Evil and Austin, Fat Bastard and Austin, or really any one character and another is ultimately irrelevant. The knowing look at the audience before Austin goes back in time as Basil and he discuss the confusion of time travel is almost a knowing joke on the audience: "Yeah, so what if it's asinine... but we talk about poop!" Har-har... the genius, the wit, and the humanity in the original are lost. Myers takes the good sequences from the original and ruins them, blundering blindly as he breaks continuity like it's going out of fashion as quickly as the rocket sight gag. The Austin in this film is completely unlike the Austin we came to care for in the first film. Austin is callous, uncaring, and unsophisticated. The cool outside that was used to hide an inner nervous boy in the first film is lost (compare the scene with Alotta versus the scene with Ivana)... Austin has no respect, no concern, and no idea of how uncool he has become in the hands of his deluded creator. The extended music videos might have been nice cut scenes for the DVD, but they really had no place in the film. One gets the feeling that one is watching a big budget SNL skit, complete with "guest appearances" and funnies that aren't, just like SNL. The movie ends up being a film that elicits only a few chuckles and an empty feeling at the end... The whole story was for naught, because Austin really didn't need to do anything... The fact that so many audience members LOVE this film is no proof of its merit... People loved The Waterboy. Thus, these two films stand as testaments to the dumbing-down of America. Mike Myers proves again that he can come up with a good idea and still find a way to ruin it with a sequel. To think there's going to be a third... let's hope Mike decides to go back to his roots and re-evaluate his bastardization of one of the more interesting comic characters in memory.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Christabel
(1988– )
Worth the Wait
12 February 1999
While many people may be drawn to this film because of Elizabeth Hurley, her performance may at first disappoint; her acting is shaky throughout most of the film, but near the end her character seems to truly come into bloom, and the last third of the film is rather enjoyable, with Hurley finally showing us that she is more than just a pretty face. If you're not moved, then maybe many things won't move you.
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