Austin Powers - Il controspione

Mike Myers brings his absurdist brand of funny to the secret agent genre. At his peak Myers delivered a highly stylized form of comedy in an Airplane sense that holds up even today. This is his peak.

I didn't see this original Austin Powers movie until a year after I saw the sequel, "...The Spy Who Shagged Me." Both involve suspended animation through cryogenics, and set both in the 1960s and the 1990s. In each, Mike Myers plays both the British spy Austin Powers, a spoof of James Bond, and also plays the evil and funny Dr Evil. In both films, some of the funnier scenes are between Dr Evil and his back-talking son.

This movie spoofs lots of different things, has many subtle sexual references, but in the hands (and delivery) of Mike Myers they always come out funny. One of the references, however is not a spoof. The "bad teeth" of the British. They really do have bad teeth! Otherwise, this is not a movie to be taken seriously, just silly entertainment, and there it succeeds almost perfectly.

However, as pretty as she is, Elizabeth Hurley, in this film, is not nearly as entertaining as is Heather Graham in the latter Austin Powers film. Hurley just does not have the comic timing nor the natural "playfulness" that is demanded for the female role. Heather Graham does, and she is even prettier!!

Some day, when they sell a two DVD set of Austin Powers films, I'd like to buy the set.

When I first saw this movie advertised, I had no interest whatsoever in seeing it. I was a Mike Myers fan, but AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY looked like the stupidest and least creative movie of the year. But after hearing of a few of the hilarious scenes of the movie, I decided to test my faith in Myers and give it a try. It turned out to be one of the funniest movies I'd seen in a long time.

The swinging hipster from the 60's, Austin Powers (Mike Myers), puts himself in deep freeze for thirty years to pursue his archenemy, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers). He is thawed out in the 90's when Dr. Evil finally reappears and plans to drill a missile to the center of the earth and destroy the planet core, and then the world. Austin Powers, with the help of his true love Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), must find a way to stop Dr. Evil and shag Vanessa. But Dr. Evil has some very dangerous customers working for him, such as Number Two (Robert Wagner), Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling), Mustafa (Will Ferrell) and his son Scott Evil (Seth Green) who thinks his father should just kill Austin rather than make a complicated plan to get rid of him.

The plot of this movie is a big spoof of movies such as the JAMES BOND films, so it's not expected to be anything but funny, which it certainly is. Don't listen to people who say this is for middle-school kids, people of all ages can enjoy this movie. It should also be said that Dr. Evil is a terrific character because, in addition to being very funny, is the stereotype spy-movie bad guy.

The acting in this movie is pretty good. Mike Myers plays both Austin Power and Dr. Evil, two very different characters, very well. Elizabeth Hurley does a very good job as Austin's girlfriend. Both Seth Green, who I think has a long, successful career ahead of him, and Mindy Sterling are very funny. Robert Wagner and Michael York, two Hollywood veterans, do good jobs with the small parts they have. Will Farrell is underplayed in this movie, but it very funny in the scene he is in. The Fembots, by the way, are terrific.

This movie is destined to become a movie classic, and "Yeah baby!" will be a catch phrase that will be remembered years from now. Austin Power and Dr. Evil are both stereotype symbols of past movies. Basically, these two guys are symbols of American film, at least for that particular genre. Don't expect much out of this movie except for a good laugh and a good time and you won't be disappointed.

Yeah, it's dumb, yeah it's goofy, but it knows it. Almost everyone in this movie is self-aware of the kind of tropes it is making fun of. It drags out its humor, to a degree that is almost irritating, but it works. It works because of the meta-humor, because of the acknowledgment of the insanity. That makes it that much more fun to watch and hilarious. It's pure laughs and clever writing all through.

In this hilarious spoof of 60's spy flicks, a swinging secret agent is thawed out of his cryogenic state in order to combat his old nemesis. The laughs never stop as Myers entertains in two pivotal roles. Hurley is sexy as Austin's partner and love interest. Robert Wagner finds ways to make fun of his "It Takes a Thief" character and is very entertaining in the process. A quickly paced film that generates constant laughs with each viewing. A sequel is soon to be released...Yeah, baby!