Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Review
by Chad Polenz (ChadPolenz AT aol DOT com)August 5th, 1997
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery
Chad'z rating: *** (out of 4 = good)
1997, PG-13, 87 minutes [1 hour, 27 minutes]
[comedy]
starring: Mike Meyers (Austin Powers, Dr. Evil), Elizabeth Hurley (Vanessa Kensington), Robert Wagner (Number Two), Fabiano Udenio (Alotta Fagina), produced by Demi Moore, Mike Meyers, Jennifer and Suzanne Todd, written by Mike Meyers, directed by M. Jay Roach.
It's hard to make a good spoof movie these days, probably because anything can only be parodied once, if at all. Is it any surprise films like "Spy Hard," and "High School High" have bombed? "Austin Powers" isn't just a bunch of cliche parodies, but a strange, funny outlook and offbeat comedic style of its writer and star Mike Meyers.
The film starts out in the campy tradition of any spoof movie by setting up its premise quickly but doing so in a satirical manner. The setting is 1967 London where we meet Austin Powers (Meyers), an English spy who is just as popular as the Beatles but seems more like Benny Hill. As women chase him he starts to dance and everyone joins in, then he runs away while everyone else must finish the song (once a crowd of people start to dance in synch they can't stop - that would be against the rules of a musical!). At the same time we meet Powers' arch nemesis Dr. Evil (Meyers again). Evil is your typical cartoony villain: he sits at a round table with his cat and associates whom he gets rid of just because he can. The fact his name is Dr. Evil shows you how blatant the film is in its satirical nature. To cut to the chase, Evil escapes by freezing and hiding himself to return 30 years later.
Okay, it's obvious the basic premise of the film is going to be a cartoony 60s-style spy movie set in the present day and therefore all the jokes will be simply fish-out-of-water right? Technically, this is true, but the film uses its typical elements an exploitative manner. We get the verbal and sight gags you'd expect from a film like this, but what's different here is the fact they don't just exist to make for quick, convenient jokes, instead, they often become integral parts of scenes, dialogue, and even the general plot.
Many things in movies like this exist only to provide for one joke, for example, Dr. Evil's number two man is named Number Two (Wagner), but what's so clever here is the use of this gag doesn't stop there, nor does it repeat itself. The film makes full use of every possible gag, such as a hilarious scene in a restroom which I cannot describe, but I will say one of Powers' lines is, "Who does Number Two work for!?"
Of course what's a comedy and a spy movie without a standoffish female sidekick who will later fall for the hero? Elizabeth Hurley co-stars as Vanessa Kensington, Powers' partner who epitomizes that character. Between scenes in which Austin tries to seduce Vanessa (always failing but always making for jokes), the two try to find Dr. Evil as he holds the world hostage.
There's so much comedy and so many jokes in this film it really would be an injustice to list only a few examples. It's difficult to describe how all the jokes connect and why they do so. There are times when certain gags start to wear thin (the carefully choreographed nude scenes for example), but what keeps them and the entire film from becoming a lowest-common-denominator/live action cartoon is the witty layer of satire throughout.
What gives "Austin Powers" its edge, originality and enjoyability is Meyers' witty screenplay. It's nice to watch a comedy and not feel like you're being pandered to.
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(C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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