LogFAQs > #972341904

9. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Directed by Jay Roach
Score: 121

Vis: 2
Poke: 5
Tangy: 8
GavsEvans: 11
Karo: 12
Plasma: 12
Forty: 13
Suprak: 18
John: 20
Mythiot: 20

2. Vis
I loved this movie when I was younger, and to me, it still holds up, all these years later. It just manages to nail almost every comedic trick its going for. This is not a critique of the sequels, which I think were a case of diminishing returns for sure, having lost the plot in terms of what they were trying to parody. No, the first Austin Powers movie is a solid parody movie, and while its certainly immature at times, I personally find even the toilet and sexual humor to be funny and memorable in a good way. This is just such a unique movie, because its not just trying to parody James Bond. Casino Royale tried that, and its wasnt good. No, Austin Powers is its own things.

Now, the James Bond parody is the primary focus of the film, and I think it works very well. Just generally having a guy as blunt and camp as Austin Powers pulling off the same shit, with the same level of success, that we see from a suave James Bond character. More than that though, I love getting to see the parody of the supervillain as well, because that makes for some of the funniest shit. The scene where the villains are just having an evil laughand the camera doesnt cut away to a new scene like it normally would in that situation, is one of the most hilariously awkward moments in the movie. Thats a perfect parody moment, because it WOULD be awkward in real life, for a group of people to just start maniacally laughingand then having to trail off because they cant keep that energy going forever.

Beyond the Bond parody though, I love using the plot to parody both the 1960s and 1990s. You have Austin and Doctor Evil as these relics of a bygone era, and they just get to poke fun at how different things are in the 90s. You have this group therapy session with Dr. Evil and Scott thats just pointing out the stupid softness of modern (at the time) parenting. You have constant jokes about how Dr. Evils plans are completely pointless in the modern era. And of course, you have the listing of dead musicians and what killed them (including Mama Cass via ham sandwich).

Ultimately, this is just a laugh-a-minute movie for me, and its quotable and will always be memorable. My family, to this day, still quotes Who throws a shoe? Honestly, you fight like a woman. and WHO. DOES. NUMBER. TWO. WORK. FOR? I just love it. Its a great comedy.

8. Tangy
How did this movie age so well!? You wouldnt think that some Mike Myers comedy from the 90s would be full of great jokes that not only mock the James Bond films of old, but also the evils of corporations!? Yeah baby! This movie rocks! I also just love seeing absurd characters in realistic situations. Seeing Dr. Evil trying to bond with Seth Green acting like an edgy teenager despite clearly being in his 20s is freaking hilarious. I also think all the side villains are an absolute delight. Like of course theres a guy that collects actual lucky charms, but is completely unaware of the cereal. Its not often characters like this work, but they fit very well in the universe thats created.

I also think the copious amount of sex jokes were surprisingly well done. I like that theyre not just targeted at women (looking at you Anchorman). Theres all kinds of variety and again it fits in with the parody, so its not like theyre out of nowhere either. This is just an overall fun, mostly harmless comedy. Definitely one of the biggest surprises on this list.

Biggest Laugh: Dr. Evil trying to pitch his schemes, just to realize the world is perfectly capable of screwing itself up without him.

11. Gavs
Here we have one of the films on this list that needs little introduction. Like Airplane!, this is another spoof that helped kill off the source material, although this time, James Bond was able to survive by following in Batmans footsteps and going for a darker and edgier reboot.

The film pokes fun at the 60s spy genre by bringing its character archetypes into the then-present day of the 90s. Austins promiscuous, sex-addicted ways arent nearly as acceptable now as they were in his own time (today, hed be Me Toos worst nightmare). Dr Evil also struggles to adapt to the present day, insisting on supervillainy despite his front company having made much more money in his absence by going legitimate, and setting impractical, elaborate death traps instead of just shooting Austin like Scott suggests. Someone needs to read the Evil Overlord List! The film also spoofs spy tropes that arent related to the time travel aspect, such as the families and friends of anonymous guards mourning their deaths.

The secondary characters are memorable as well, being quirky henchmen in the vein of classic James Bond villains, such as silent shoe-throwing assassin and Odd Job parody Random Task (who in real life turned out to be far worse than his employer). That said, the more iconic likes of Mini Me and Obese Illegitimate Son havent been introduced yet. (Are we allowed to say his real name on this site?)

The main issue I have with this film is that some jokes go on for too long, which ends up hurting some jokes that would have been funnier if they ended sooner. Aside from that, Im pleased to see this one still holds up. I wasnt sure if it would, given how omnipresent all the quotes were in the late 90s and early 2000s, resulting in them subsequently being run into the ground, but enough time has passed since then for them to go back to being funny again. Yeah, baby! Oh behave! etc