Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

I didn't see this original Austin Powers movie until a year after I saw the sequel, "...The Spy Who Shagged Me." Both involve suspended animation through cryogenics, and set both in the 1960s and the 1990s. In each, Mike Myers plays both the British spy Austin Powers, a spoof of James Bond, and also plays the evil and funny Dr Evil. In both films, some of the funnier scenes are between Dr Evil and his back-talking son.

This movie spoofs lots of different things, has many subtle sexual references, but in the hands (and delivery) of Mike Myers they always come out funny. One of the references, however is not a spoof. The "bad teeth" of the British. They really do have bad teeth! Otherwise, this is not a movie to be taken seriously, just silly entertainment, and there it succeeds almost perfectly.

However, as pretty as she is, Elizabeth Hurley, in this film, is not nearly as entertaining as is Heather Graham in the latter Austin Powers film. Hurley just does not have the comic timing nor the natural "playfulness" that is demanded for the female role. Heather Graham does, and she is even prettier!!

Some day, when they sell a two DVD set of Austin Powers films, I'd like to buy the set.