I own the first film (International Man of Mystery), have always felt it was the strongest one. But I'd wanted to watch all three just to get some perspective on this series that was once the most popular big screen comedy franchise running.
I think a charitable read on these movies is that they became a victim of their own success. If they're remembered at all nowadays it's largely because the catchphrases it spawned became so ubiquitous as to become annoying -- and its mass popularity made it seem like a more bloated alternative to the more grounded comedies of its era, like Rushmore.
It hasn't helped that Myers has pulled one of the great disappearing acts in recent Hollywood history. He was never prolific to begin with, but for much of the past two decades he's largely only lent his talents to small cameos roles and multiple voice performances as Shrek in animated movies.
In his absence an image of Myers has emerged as a bit of tone deaf perfectionist who is allegedly difficult and demanding to work with. Still, it was hard to argue with his track record. With Wayne's World and Austin Powers, he had created wholly original, strangely specific comedic characters -- who could have been a one-note sketch idea but instead are given depth and idiosyncrasies.
But when his long developed new character -- The Love Guru -- bellyflopped hard. It seems as though he never fully recovered. And that's a shame, because he's clearly capable of being a one of kind dynamic performer.
His fastball is one fine display in the first Austin Powers, which was just a small little minor hit when it first came out in 1997. I remember seeing it in a mostly empty theater with my dad and howling with laughter at it. I didn't get all the deep cut references to British spy capers of the '60s and that didn't matter -- there was just never a character like that in a movie. And the film itself was so unabashedly silly and childish that it was sort of irresistible.
And then somehow in two short years everyone caught onto it. And the second Powers film, The Spy Who Shagged Me, managed to make $200 million dollars. I vividly remember seeing that one in theaters too, with a broad consensus among my high school friends at the time that it was probably the funniest movie any of has ever seen.
There are some very funny, satisfying bits in The Spy Who Shagged Me (I love the joke about the previous heroine of a Powers film -- Elizabeth Hurley -- was a 'fembot' all along, "Sadly, we knew all along," his supervisor, played by Michael York says.
But a lot of it doesn't work. You can see the sweatiness of this entry almost from the start with some very off putting product placement and elaborate song and dance numbers replacing actual jokes. The humor also take a hard turn to the potty -- with the Fat Bastard character truly being more repugnant than funny and the Mini Me stuff seeming unnecessary.
That said, Dr. Evil was and is a very hilarious creature -- with his Lorne Michaels voice and droll asides. Some of the crazier stuff works (a well staged Jerry Springer show scene) and a lot of it gets repetitive and tiresome. And Heather Graham gives an embarrassingly wooden performance that only underlines how woefully weak the women characters are in all of these films.
Still, if the series has stopped there I think it would have been mostly remembered fondly, but with Austin Powers: Goldmember just three years later it truly jumped the shark. First off the title tells you all you need to know. Myers was leaning really hard yet again on gross out and sexual humor. There are even more totally random dance numbers and even more lazy rehashes of bits from the previous two movies. And its new Myers creation -- a leisure suit wearing Dutchman who eats his own flaky skin -- barely has a chance to register amid the dumb gags.
But the worst sin of all is Goldmember's cavalcade of celebrity cameos. I mean this is some of the most indulgent nonsense I've ever seen. It's as if Myers was cashing in on his newfound A-list status by getting a ton of major stars to do useless walk-ons (a Kevin Spacey one is especially strange to see now given the fallout of his career). There's Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Gwenyth Paltrow, Danny DeVito and Britney Spears just to name a few. None a one of their scenes is funny and they add nothing new to the flavor of the franchise.
Meanwhile, Beyonce is hopeless lost as the 'love' interest and I put love in quotes because there isn't even an ounce of chemistry between her Foxy Brown homage (who inexplicably calls out her own name as if to remind the audience of who she is) and Myers. Sure, I get we're supposed to buy into the conceit that woman are somehow supposed to find this goofball attractive, but least in the first Powers film he was lovable. Here, he spends a bunch of the running time freaking out about a mole on someone's face.
The saving grace of this movie is Michael Caine, who is very funny here and whose presence reminded me of everything I liked about the first film. Ironically, this film is the most financially successful of all the Powers movies, but it doesn't feel like anyone was clamoring for more.
Oddly eneough, there have long been rumors that Myers wants to resurrect that character for a fourth film. For someone who has been a long fan of his and some of these movies, I hope he doesn't. This is a phenomenon best left behind and enjoyed for the curio it is.
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