Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A 1960s hipster secret agent is brought out of cryofreeze to oppose his greatest enemy in the 1990s, where his social attitudes are glaringly out of place. This is definitely a film that unfortunately hasn't aged that well i'm afraid but still packs some good fun and jokes and makes it completely safe. Mike Myers is pretty good as both Powers and Dr. Evil although it's one of my less favorite Spy spoof series. The action is pretty good, some cameos are alright and the humor was kind of a hit and miss depending on what you like really. But as a movie? it's pretty good and watchable for sure. (7.5/10)

I really didn't want to see this, I had never liked Myers. For some reason I let myself get talked into going to the second movie and watching this as prep. Well, it turns out I do like Myers. This is on my list of movies I'd rate an 11 if I could. This has amazing eye candy, great tunes AND to hilarious effect it refuses to behave. This is a must see movie for fans of outrageous silliness. I can still watch this yearly.

Mike Myers is the chalk to your cheese, the salt to your sweet. He can improve a mix, or outright destroy it. He's exploited James Bond's core attributes, ruining the stereotypes and the clichés we've grown use to, and come up with not one, but two egotistical maniacs that allow him to rein free and pretty much do as he pleases. The humour falls in to the slapstick category, and sometimes it scrapes the bottom of the comedy gene pool. It's clearly not for everyone. For every comedy gold there's a rusty, wooden pun. Austin Powers (Myers) is an English secret agent from the 60's whose charm, wit and stupidity gets him along in life. His evil nemesis, the aptly named Dr. Evil (also Myers), freezes himself in space and reappears 30 years later in the 90's. Powers follows in pursuit to once and for all bring Dr. Evil down. This crazy plot works because both hero and villain are out of their depth after missing so much from the last 3 decades. Dr. Evil threatens to destroy the world unless he receives $1m from the United Nations, and Austin realises he cannot sow his seed like he use to, thanks to a strong willed, sexy Elizabeth Hurley. If you can't stomach International Man of Mystery's first 5 minutes, don't bother with the rest. If you're a die-hard Bond fan, stay clear; Myers has duplicated Blofeld to shocking effect.Check out my other reviews on http://straighttelling.co.uk

Looking back on it, it was amazing that no one thought of completely lampooning those old Sean Connery Bond films until 1997. They were pretty over-the-top, but I guess that's what we loved about them. And, I dare say that the writer/star of 'Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,' - Mike Myers - loves them as much as the rest of us. For he gives us a most loving take on the unspoken absurdities that we deliberately chose to overlook in the Bond films. He plays both hero and villain here as a swinging spy, frozen in the sixties and defrosted in the - rather more politically correct - nineties to do battle with the (Blofeld-like) Dr Evil.Despite being an American production, it has a very British feel to it. Everything is made fun of, but you never feel like they're being particularly cruel - it's all quite 'loving mockery' (if you know what I mean). It's not just a string of naughty jokes, but it also does go a little deeper in highlighting the change in attitudes from the 'free love' of the sixties to the more reserved nineties.There's nothing here that's particularly clever, just a stream of innuendos which seem like they've been taken straight out of the original Carry On films. But, if you're in the mood for some general silliness (and have a healthy knowledge of the old Bond films), you should enjoy the crazy ride and find you're spouting the several Powers/Evil catchphrases for some time to come.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/