Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

The type of comedy that Mike Myers perpetuates in "Austin Powers" is different from anything else you'll ever watch. You'll either be in stitches or completely turned off by the sheer stupidity of the entire spectacle. Obviously, I fall into the former category (!)For a basic plot summary, "Austin Powers" is (at heart) a spoof of the old James Bond films from the 1960s. British spy Powers (Myers), with the help of Agent Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) must track down and defeat the "nefarious", cat-stroking villain Dr. Evil (also Myers).Though the intentions of this film are clearly to lampoon Bond, it quickly becomes apparent that Myers' characters take on too much of a life of their own to be reigned in. As the movie progresses, the characters start to freelance a bit more and the humor really kicks up a notch. The groovy, swinging, shagadelic Powers and the utterly clueless Dr. Evil become, in just 90 minutes, iconic film characters producing handfuls of quotable, hilarious humor.Basically, "Austin Powers" is one of those rare comedies that bursts onto the scene out of nowhere and creates enough crazy characters to make people laugh. What started off as a "simple" spoof of Bond turned into a cultural phenomenon.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a brilliant movie with a very well written storyline and a fantastic comedic cast. It is certainly one of my favourite feel good comedies, it instantly makes me smile and puts me in a good mood every time I watch, it has many memorable quotes and strange, unrelatable, but very lovable characters. The only scenes that bother me in this movie is when they go way too far with a joke, such as the scene where Austin is urinating or the death of one of Dr. Evil's henchman, it dosen't suit the tone of humour that we see in the majority of the film and is more so annoying than funny. The performances are outstanding, they seemed very hard to do as they are very high energy and it seems as if the whole cast didn't deliver, the entire movie would stumble, but luckily they all did very well, Mike Myers is the highlight of the film of course, playing both the protagonist and the antagonist, he shines in both roles and it is very hard to believe that Austin Powers and Dr. Evil are the same person, they are simply iconic performances. Hilarious from start to finish with memorable quotes and lovable characters, I would recommend Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery to anyone looking for a good comedy. Special agent Austin Powers is defrosted after 30 years in a cryogenic freeze to match wits with his nemesis, Dr. Evil. Best Performance: Mike Myers Worst Performance: Paul Dillon

Goofy, cheesy, and corny, but what did you expect? A lot of it was made up of dumb unsophisticated juvenile humor, but it was still funny enough to keep me entertained and interested. Some of it got a little old like turning every word into a sexual reference or making certain scenes too drawn out. It was also fun to see secondary characters being played by unknowns at the time like Will Ferrel, Brian George, and Seth Green. The appearance of the movie was also stylish, aesthetically pleasing and of course groovy. The most enjoyable part of the film was the spoof-like nature of it. It made fun of spy shows from the 60's and parodied (my favorite part) the beginning James Bond movies by including situations, lines, and similar characters straight from those overrated classics.

Wildly inventive and accessible, Mike Myers creation of Austin Powers is both cunning satire and eternally sophomoric, and I loved it! The punning of the 60's is quick and inclusive, regardless of your stance on the social issues of the time, and the Bond/Foe bits play into the genre perfectly. Dr. Evil gets little credit for bringing the two together when he says to his son, "you just don't get it". If you feel the mike Myers character is infectious and continually out of place, then you'd have enjoyed this Bond send off. If not, then count the references, point out what is silly rather than inventive, talk about distance between the viewer and the object of ridicule and feel better about yourselves. That's what Austin would have wanted for you!