Review of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) by Rendan L — 23 Feb 2015

The first film in the Austin Powers franchise is a spoof on 60s culture in modern day a la Brady Bunch Movie, and introduced us to Austin and Dr. Evil (along with his crew of enemies). The first film is a good and hilarious start to the franchise, but can get very bland at points.

Austin Powers is a 1960s British secret agent and sex crazed ladies man who is cryogenically unfrozen to defeat his also unfrozen arch enemy, Dr. Evil, from a shady business deal to take over the world. Austin and his sex partner/fellow agent take down Dr. Evil, shady businessman Number 2, and maybe sometime Evil's angsty son Scott.

The first entry in the franchise is about secret agents, but don't expect many Bond parodies, more on 60s culture, like as Powers uses a ton of outdated lingo in his sex misadventures. Dr. Evil is always a riot, great character. The storyline doesn't have much to it, throw me a frickin' bone here, it's bland at a lot of points. The film's humor and memorable characters do seem to make up for it, but the first in the franchise is somewhat forgettable.