|
Secret agent man Mike Myers is back as Austin Powers by MATTHEW HAYS
Austin Powers is the perfect comeback vehicle for Myers's considerable talents. He scripted the spoof, which is the most wicked take on James Bond movies since Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's '60s creation Get Smart. Powers is an unbelievably goofy photographer by day, secret agent by night. He frolics about the streets of London in 1967, being saucy and cheeky with the gals, expressing himself with phrases like "Shagadelic!" Myers also plays Dr. Evil, a composite of every James Bond villain who ever graced the screen (complete with fluffy white feline companion). When Evil blasts into space in a state of suspended animation, Powers offers to do the same, to be awakened only when Evil returns to earth. Cut to 1997, when Evil descends back to terra firma. Powers is resurrected--with all the values of a '67 superspy--to some nasty surprises about the changes to global culture. The Cold War is over, safe sex is in and women no longer appear to appreciate being treated like complete idiots. As with the Brady Bunch movies, the central running gag is of the fish-out-of-water time-travel variety. Though the gags are often funny, there's a certain sense of regret about Myers's choice to jettison the script into the '90s so early in the film. The opening sequence is perhaps the best in the whole film: as Powers, Myers rushes through Carnaby Street, strikingly done up in its former glory with outrageous colours and ludicrous period outfits. Powers is chased by a group of screaming admirers (à la Help!), pausing occasionally for a distinctly idiotic dance number. The costume and set designs are so impressive here we don't want it to end. Perhaps Austin Powers: The Sequel could feature the agent taking a time machine back to '67 (to save the Montreal Expo, perhaps?) and audiences could be treated to more of this first-rate period backdrop. Austin Powers couldn't possibly begin to make up for the damage done to American comedy movies by Saturday Night Live alumni, but it is sublime idiocy. Watching Myers in his dual role, one gets a strong sense of what's wrong with the faltering late-night comedy program today--none of its current cast has his fine sense of timing, his ability to be both daft and smart at once. Up until recently, Myers's career looked dead. Then he took on Powers. Long live Mike Myers. Austin Powers opens this Friday, May 2. See film listings for showtimes |
It is truly rare to actually find a film starring a Saturday Night Live alumnus amusing. Most of them are dreadful, sloppily written vehicles which feel like mediocre sketches from the TV show, painfully dragged on for far, far too long. Mike Myers, an SNL regular for several years, managed a couple of above-average comedies based on his own creation (Wayne's World), but very little since.