Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

People are voting emotionally.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

Way back when Mike Myers didn't rely on a certain green ogre for a salary, he starred in three hugely successful Austin Powers movies, affectionate spoofs of the '60s spy genre, the first of which saw the titular 'International Man of Mystery' (Myers) and his nemesis Dr. Evil (also played by Myers) being thawed out in 1997 after thirty years in cryonic suspension. Continuing where they left off in 1967, Dr. Evil plots to hold the world to ransom, while Powers teams up with a sexy new sidekick, Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), to try and defeat him.Written by Myers, and directed by Jay Roach, Austin Powers delivers a barrage of visual buffoonery, bawdy innuendo, toilet humour, and general lunacy, most of which hits the mark, with lots of cool cameos from the likes of Christian Slater, Carrie Fisher, Will Ferrell, Tom Arnold, and Rob Lowe, to name just a few. Even if madcap humour isn't your thing, it would take a joyless soul not to laugh at at least some of the craziness on display (I defy anyone to keep a straight face during the scene that takes place in a toilet stall!). Myers' groovy schtick would become even funnier in subsequent sequels; it's no wonder that he is currently planning to revive his flagging career with a fourth film in the series.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for Hurley in that silver quasi-futuristic mini-dress.

It's surprising to think that the second of two inspired characters thought up by Mike Myers, the flamboyant, sex-crazed super-spy Austin Powers, took so long to catch on. A modest showing at the box-office soon led to rampant word-of-mouth with it's VHS release, and soon enough, around the early 2000's, everybody seemed to responding to questions with "yeah, baby!". While it's hook is a mixture of (very accurately) spoofing 60's kitsch spy movies and outright silliness, Myers' Powers is winning thanks to the puppy-dog appeal of it's creator.After seeing his nemesis Dr. Evil (also Myers) escape his clutches by cryogenically freezing himself and escaping in a Big Boy-shaped space rocket, Austin Danger Powers joins the likes of Evil Knievel and Vanilla Ice and freezes himself for 30 years. When Evil returns, planning on stealing the world's nuclear weapons, Powers is thawed out and is unleashed into a changed world. No longer are people experimenting with mind-altering drugs and having care-free, unprotected sex, and Powers gets lumped with his ex-partner's buzz-killing daughter Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley).Myers seems fully aware that the 1960's were camp enough already to raise laughs, so the film spends a lot of time paying homage to the likes of the hyperactive energy of A Hard Day's Night (1964), the big- boobed laden, pervy fun of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), and even the ultra-chic photo-shoots of Antonioni's classic Blowup (1966). These scenes are surprisingly spot on, and Myers is in his element running away from an army of screaming girls to that now-iconic theme song. Of course, the film spends the majority of the film in the 1990's, and Powers seems incredibly out-dated, and people now notice his terrible teeth.Most of the laughs come from the clever observations made of the early James Bond movies. Anyone who remembers Honor Blackman's ridiculously named Pussy Galore from Goldfinger (1964), will get a laugh from the character named Alotta Fagina, or Dr. Evil's shoe-throwing henchman Random Task. Or for anyone who has seen any of the Sean Connery Bond's, will no doubt be amused at Dr. Evil's insistence on placing Powers in an easily-escapable and elaborate death device and refusing to even watch the deed, much to the annoyance of Evil's son (Seth Green). The rest of the laughs are hardly clever - they tend to derive from Myers gurning or daft innuendo - but this is a silly and effortlessly humorous 90 minutes, full of quotable lines that are no doubt as dated as Powers' outfits.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Austin Powers has the rare distinction of being a spoof film that is also original. Mike Myers stars as Groovy British spy Austin Powers. Who is cryogenically frozen in 1969 to do battle with the evil Blofeld Lookalike Dr.Evil (Also Myers). Austin is thawed out in 1997 to a very different world where Swingers are all but extinct. He is partnered up with the daughter of his original partner Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) to do battle with Dr.Evil and his hilarious Minions like Number 2 (Robert Wagner) and Frau Farbissina.Perfect film for James Bond fans; packed with lots of references to James Bond and the Spy Genre whilst also being able to be original. It has lots of quotable quotes like "Groovy". It also features parodies of Iconic James Bond scenes and great 60's costumes and locations. Great film and would highly recommend it- 10/10