So I Married An Axe Murderer (1993)

For this comedy thriller to work, it really needed to draw parallels between its main character's fears that his new wife is a serial killer with his fears in general about commitment - some depth like that - but story depth takes a back seat in this Mike Myers vanity project - he distracts with fourth-wall-breaking nods to the camera, cameos by all his comedian friends and an elaborate but wholly unnecessary side role as his main character's father, clearly approaching the movie as an extension of his SNL and Wayne's World work, rendering SIMAAM an inane, overlong skit with the story hacked into little unsatisfactory pieces.

★☆☆☆☆

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Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

As a big fan of British spy action - the serious (James Bond) as well as the not so serious (quirky 70s tv series, The Avengers) - I have a soft spot for Austin Powers and this 1999 follow-up to the 1997 original ups the ante by introducing time travel, big name cameos (Elvis Costello, Will Ferrell..), and myriad new characters (Michael Myers does an Eddie Murphy and portrays several including Fat Bastard), and the sequel succeeds in being funny most of the time, mostly because so much trouble is taken setting up some really lame jokes.

★★★☆☆

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