#668 – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Film review #668

Director: Jay Roach

SYNOPSIS: Supervillain Dr. Evil is foiled once again by British Agent Austin Powers, and escapes by putting himself into cryogenic stasis in orbit. Austin Powers agrees to be frozen himself, until the time that Dr. Evil returns. Thirty years later in 1997, Dr. Evil remerges, and Austin is reanimated into a very different world from the sixties…

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 film. The film sees British agent Austin Powers reanimated from cryogenic stasis after his nemesis Dr. Evil has returned via the same method after thirty years. Austin has to readjust to life in the 1990’s, as well as stop Dr. Evil’s plan for world domination. The film is primarily a spoof of classic spy films; James Bond in particular to the surprise of no one. While the humour is perhaps of little surprise to anyone, in the sense that it is rather easy to poke fun at the 007 formula because it is so formulaic, Austin Powers is very thorough in that you end up feeling they really got as much mileage out of the subject matter as they possibly could have. Flipping the innuendo-based, nudge-nudge-wink of Bond to an openly raunchy and Horny Powers also provides a very different tone, so it doesn’t feel stuck in the shadows of it’s spoofed subject matter: it can be bright, colourful and funny in it’s own way.

Where this film shines strongest is it blends the sixties and nineties quite well, picking up humour and satire from both eras and playing it out well: as such, I think it hit a sweet spot upon release, in that it appealed to an older demographic with the sixties aesthetic, while still having enough modern humour that pokes fun at the older stuff for teens and young adults. Goldeneye in 1995 brought the James Bond films into the modern era by addressing the role of 007 in a post-Cold War world, and Austin Powers somewhat does the same thing, just obviously with a much more comedy-focused approach. I don’t think there’s anything necessarily new or surprising here that lesser films have done before, but everything is brought together well, and full of colour and energy to make entertaining from start to finish.

The plot in this film is obviously a secondary concern, but taking a closer look at it, the film barely flows at all; it often feels like a set of loosely connected skits featuring the characters. It zips around the different locations and characters without any real regard for continuity, but like I say, it’s not too much of a concern. The film is mostly about throwing Austin and Dr. Evil into silly situations, which it does well. Mike Myers plays both the role of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, sharing a different type of humour with each: Powers with his raunchy, straightforwardness, and Dr. Evil as a parody of Blofeld having to accommodate his evil plans to a world that sees Evil in a different way, and also having to deal with being a father. As I say, it’s varied enough to keep things interesting, and when a scene’s humour doesn’t pay off, it quickly moves onto the next one anyway. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery perhaps treads old ground parodying the oft-parodied spy franchise, but keeps it fresh with it’s quick humour that never lingers, and it’s variety that appeals across a wide audience. I wasn’t blown away by the humour, but it avoids becoming stale at any point, so it’s perfectly entertaining from beginning to end.