The year is 1967. British secret service agent, sexy beast, fashion slave
and all-around chick magnet Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is tipped by his
immediate supervisor Basil Exposition (Michael York) of the presence in a
London nightclub of a criminal presence. Powers, with the assistance of
fellow secret agent Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers), foils the evil plans of a
certain Dr. Evil (Myers again) that ends up frozen in outer space for 30
years while attempting to escape in a secret Big Boy space shuttle with his
pet animal, a cute little pussy... cat named Mr. Bigglesworth. The world is
safe from Dr. Evil until 1997, when he and his kitty are unfrozen and again
take command of the evil terrorist organization that was active during the
Cold War era. Despite attempts by henchmen Number Two (Robert Wagner), Frau
Farbissina (Mindy Sterling) and the artificially-inseminated son Scott Evil
(Seth Green) to convince the evil doctor that they're better-off with the
legitimate businesses they've established in the 30 years he's been away
('... a factory that makes small factories'), Dr. Evil is not impressed.
He immediately begins working on Project Vulcan, a top secret mission to use
a rogue nuclear weapon from the breakaway Russian Republic of Kreplachistan
to hold the world hostage for... (pinky finger next to the mouth) ONE
MILLION DOLLARS! But the evil one didn't anticipate that his
nemesis, Austin Powers, would also cryogenically freeze himself in order to
be ready for Dr. Evil should he ever show his face again. Once unfrozen and
with his bodily fluids properly disposed of, Powers is teamed-up by with
Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley). Daughter or the retired female agent
that helped him make Dr. Evil shoot himself into outer space, Vanessa must
not only help Austin find and thwart Dr. Evil's plans. He must also help the
swinging and libertine 60's attitudes of the British secret agent conform
into a time in which promiscuous sex and the Cold War are no longer valid.
With the runaway success of "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and
"Austin Powers in Goldmember", few people remember that "International Man of
Mystery" wasn't a box office hit at the time of its theatrical release back
in May of '97. In its own low-budget and charming way though, "Austin
Powers" is a better movie than its prequels because its the genesis of one of
the funniest movie series to come along since the golden era of the Blake
Edwards/Peter Sellers "Pink Panther" saga. Mike Myers, who already had
proven his worth as an above-average TV ("Saturday Night Live") and motion
picture performer ("Wayne's World 1 & 2", "So I Married An Ax Murderer"),
gives both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil enough charm and personality to make
them more than the two-dimensional characters they were meant to be.
By juxtaposing these character's stuck-in-the-60's mentalities with such
modern-day activities like group therapy (in which Scott Evil tries to reach
toward his distant father Dr. Evil) and casual sex with strangers (Austin in
the tub with counter-operative 'Alotta Fagina', AKA Fabiana Uderio) the movie
generates not only genuine laughs, but also character-driven pathos. Even
Liz Hurley, normally a pretty face without much presence ("Bedazzled"
anyone?), shines under the spotlight of Jay Roach's well-framed camera angles
and Mike Myers' creative script. Unfortunately this prequel is also full of
as many bad and unfunny scenes (Tom Arnold in a Vegas bathroom stool) as
there are good one's that hit the bullseye (Will Ferrell's hilarious cameo as
burned-to-a-crisp-and-hurting henchman Mustafa). Compared with the
laugh-a-minute pace of "The Spy Who Shagged Me" and the recently-released
"Goldmember", "International Man of Mystery" feels like a good premise being
held back by the small budget that filmmakers were working on back in '97.
Still, one can't help but smile when hearing George S. Clinton's dead-on
music score or hearing Myers sing 'BBC' alongside Ming Tea during the closing
credits. Do you remember the very first time you heard Dr. Evil say
ONE MILLION DOLLARS!? Or the first time you saw Number Two
break down and cry? How about Austin and Vanessa riding through Vegas or
going about their business to the beat of Burt Bacharad's music or Quincy
Jones' 'Soul Bossa Nova'? Or the first time Frau Farbissina screamed
loud-enough to wake-up the dead? Cinematic funny memories are a beautiful
thing, and "International Man of Mystery" has enough of them to make one
forget momentarily about the many other one's that bombed and keep the flick
below its far-better sequels.
The Disc:
New Line Home Video established its Platinum Series early in the lifecycle of
the DVD format as a premiere brand that catered to quality-conscious DVD
aficionados. Despite being over four years old the "Austin Powers" DVD
benefits from having received top-of-the-line treatment with a
Widescreen (1:90:1)/Full Screen (1:33:1) Video Transfer that's
so good it makes one forget that it's coded on a single layer DVD disc. The
handful of minor dirt/grain spots on the movie's print and slightly-muted
colors are tolerable given the low budget the filmmakers were working on.
The English Dolby 5.1 & French Dolby 2.0 Surround Tracks are
also decent, but don't exploit the speaker separation and panning effects of
one's home theater set-up to its fullest. Still, there is no better way to
enjoy the side-splitting audio/visual treat that is witnessing Austin Powers
blow the heads off half-a-dozen Fembots with a striptease dance to the beat
of the song 'I Touch Myself' than on this Platinum Series DVD.
English, French and Spanish Subtitles are also available.
The "Austin Powers" menu/option screens also feature psychodelic artwork,
pictures and colors that are in tune with the groovy settings of the movie,
and which are taken to an extreme level of interactivity with the Music
To Shag To feature (similar to the music screen savers on the PSOne
and 3DO systems). The layout of these menu/option screens also leads to the
DVD's other special features: a Spy Genre Retrospective (still
pages chronicling the movies/TV series that "Austin Powers" satirizes), a
Cameo Menu for viewers to access the cameos of the four guest
stars (Carrie Fisher, Tom Arnold, Burt Bacharad and Rob Lowe), the movie's
Theatrical Trailer and an outdated Cast
Filmography for Mike Myers, Liz Hurley, Robert Wagner, Mimi Rogers &
Michael York. There's also a cool Star Highlights option
featuring four short clips from movies in which actors appearing in "Austin
Powers" starred prior to doing "Austin Powers" back in '97; one of them,
1991's "The Rapture" (starring Mimi Rogers and a then-unknown David
Duchovny), just happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time!
There are also seven Deleted Scenes, including two
wisely-replaced alternative endings, and an underwhelming
Feature-Length Commentary Track in which director Jay Roach and
writer/star Mike Myers share some of their trials and tribulations getting
the movie made. Some of their anecdotes are quite humorous, especially the
one about their inability to afford what the script called 'sharks with
freakin' laser beans' (which finally made it in the "Goldmember" sequel
five years later), but Roach and Myers stay quiet too often and leave way too
many pauses with dead silence in their narrative. For an early example of
how to exploit the DVD format wisely though (unlike most Warner Bros. DVD's
from the 1997/98 era), "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" remains
a classic benchmark.
bottom line:
The first "Austin Powers" movie remains an amusing introduction into Mike
Myers' warped little universe. It spoofs 60's spy genre movies and pays
homage to James Bond stereotypes with panache; it also has a truckload of
catch phrases ('Yeah Baby!') that have since become part of pop-culture's
vernacular. It's also too sloppily put-together and with too many
hit-and-miss gags to compare favorably with the brilliant lunacy of its two
far superior sequels. For the $15 asking price though, this New Line
Platinum Series DVD has enough bells & whistles to be worth the dough.
By - J.M. Vargas
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