Austin Powers - International Man Of Mystery DVD > Reviews > Not quite groovy enough

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Indifferent to it
Story	Very ordinary
Characters / Performances	Satisfactory
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	the extras on the DVD, the couple of stand out scenes
Disadvantages:	The plot

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Austin Powers – International Man of Mystery is a spoof on all the secret agent films and follows in the footsteps of Casino Royale and Our Man Flint. Is it written by and stars Mike Myers ( from Saturday Night Live and Waynes World ) and the lovely Liz Hurley co stars.

The plot follows the usual formula of bad guy threatening the world and the good guy saving it at the last moment. Obviously there is more to it than that but that basically is the plot. The main thrust of the comedy comes from the fact that Powers was cryogenically frozen back in the 1960s and has been revived in the 90s so we can get the fish out of water jokes which have been used in so many films from Crocodile Dundee to Coogans Bluff, the polictically incorrect musings and the 60s catch phrases Groovy Baby indeed.

For me this is a strange film because I don’t think it is all that funny, when it was originally released I didn’t like it that much, although it has its moments, it is overall only mildly amusing. I saw the follow up The Spy Who Shagged Me and thought that was hilarious so went back to this thinking I was maybe harsh and hadn’t got the characters until the 2nd film. However, my first reaction had been right. There is just something that doesn’t quite work here. Whether the script just isnt sharp enough or the direction isn’t just quite on the ball I don’t know.

But the stand out moments for me are the scene in Dr Evils office where one of his henchmen refuses to die after plummeting through a floor to a firey pit. “I’m still alive but badly burned. I’m in a lot of pain,” he calls up. Then you hear a gunshot “You shot me right in the arm!” The character makes a welcome running joke through this and the follow up. Also the toilet scene in which he’s being garrotted (the man in the adjoining cubicle thinks he’s painfully constipated) is original ( at least I cant think of anyone else that has made that joke )

The DVD though cannot be faulted as it is packed with extras. For the technical amongst you, the film is in 2.35:1 widescreen format and 5.1 Dolby digital sound. The transfer is crisp and clear with no obvious muting or distortion of sound or colour.

The extras include alternate endings, a commentary from Myers and director Jay Roach, a cameo menu showing you if you caught all the guest appearances, original trailer, deleted scenes and biographies of the cast.