AUSTIN POWERS

SYNOPSIS:
Back in 1967, buck-toothed, crushed- velvet wearing, mop-topped Austin Powers (Mike Myers) worked as a swingin' fashion photographer by day and a groovy super agent for a British spy organisation the rest of the time. When not working, his primary interest was in 'shagging' every pretty girl he could get his hands on. His chief nemesis was the bald-pated, cat-loving, megalomaniac Dr. Evil. Just before Powers catches him once and for all, Dr. Evil has himself placed in a cryogenic capsule and blasted into space. Not wanting to be outdone, Powers volunteers to have himself frozen too. Thirty years pass and Dr Evil returns to London to continue his wicked schemes for world domination. Powers' is promptly thawed him out, too and set up with gorgeous but morally conservative Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), the daughter of his former partner. Their mission is to stop Dr Evil. Powers and Evil attempt to resume business as usual, but times have dramatically changed and both psychedelic dinosaurs find themselves hilariously struggling to adapt.

"Bursting with deliciously nasty villains, beautiful women, intriguing gismos, a touch of humour and lots of action, the James Bond thrillers of the sixties were the coolest. Their popularity spawned a number of tongue-in-cheek B movie and television imitators including the Matt Helm films, Our Man Flint, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Written by and starring Saturday Night Live alumnus Mike Myers in a dual role, Austin Powers is primarily a parody of those secondary spy thrillers with the added zest of spoofing '60s pop culture. And the film is fun - for maybe half its running time. You see, even the Bond films ultimately emerged as self-parodies, and many of the films Powers spoofs, were themselves parodies, so what you have, then, is a film that pokes fun at itself in more ways than one. Myers is a clever comic but his schtick is repetitious and tiresome; Hurley looks gorgeous, but like all those Bond women before her, has little to do but appear decorative in an occasionally amusing way. Austin Powers pokes fun at many a film, though unless you're a Bond devotee, you may not pick up on which film. There are some delightful moments, and the music gives the movie a playful edge, but one wonders why on earth a parody of sixties pop culture is needed, when the sixties themselves remain a quintessential parody of a world trying to take itself too seriously."
Paul Fischer