uring the 1960s, in a time of free love and very colorful clothing choices, a hip, not-so-secret British agent named Austin Powers (Myers) is all that keeps the world safe from evil. He's on the cover of magazines, gets chased by girls and looks like an old Beatle.
With his partner Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers), Austin is about to capture his arch enemy, Dr. Evil (also played by Myers). At the last moment, Evil has himself cryogenically frozen, escaping into space via a rocket-powered Bob's Big Boy. Evil's plan is to escape to a time when he can take over the world without pesky Austin Powers around to stop him.
Austin also has himself cryogenically frozen, until the day in 1997 when Evil is set to return to Earth. Upon being defrosted, Austin meets Mrs. Kensington's daughter, Vanessa (Hurley), who also happens to be a beautiful British agent. Vanessa's job is to bring Austin up to speed on the '90s and help him stop Evil. Unfortunately for Austin, the world has changed quite a bit and he finds it difficult to understand why Vanessa doesn't want to shag (have sex).
Evil doesn't waste any time hatching his latest scheme: to take over the world by exploding a nuclear weapon in the Earth's core. He also meets his genetically engineered son, who is angry Evil wasn't around when he was growing up. (They end up going to a group meeting together.) Meanwhile, Austin and Vanessa track Evil to Las Vegas, where they must stop him before he can take over the world and do lots of other nasty stuff.
This is no Wayne's World
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is Myers's take on James Bond movies and the '60s by way of the '90s. As directed by Jay Roach, there isn't much that works in this spoof. Replete with '60s references and ideology, the movie is filled with lots of bathroom humor (literally) and sexual references. There's nothing wrong with getting down to the baser level when going for humor...if it works.
Austin Powers has plenty of what could-have-been/should-have-been clever moments. Myers's script throws dozens of gags at the audience trying to see what sticks. Unfortunately, nothing much does.
As Austin, Myers is unappealing and not funny. He's supposed to be a chick magnet, despite his bad teeth. While that's part of the joke, it's just not a very funny one. Myers comes off better as Dr. Evil, a sort of Bond arch villain by way of Ed Sullivan. While he appears to be having as much fun as he had in Wayne's World, Austin Powers doesn't even come close as entertainment.
Hurley does much better as Vanessa. Not every girl can make the '60s look work and deliver a line pretty well too. The rest of the cast isn't given much to do. However, Robert Wagner as No. 2 has a few good moments. The production values here are nothing special and special effects are left mostly to the colorful '60s fashions.
