Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Starring: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Robert Wagner, Seth Green
Directed by: Jay Roach
Released: New Line Cinema, 1997

Mike Myers is over-the-top in this thinly-veiled James Bond spoof about a go-go superspy from the 1960's frozen for preservation and returned to life thirty years later. The comic Myers doubles as both the hero Powers and his archnemesis Dr. Evil, giving the audience double the laughs at half the price. Fish-out-of-water and crude sexual humor are the movie's main comic weapons, so those easily offended won't find much else to redeem the picture -- its biggest flaw. Supermodel Elizabeth Hurley costars as Powers' sidekick, adding the softcore sexual touch present in so many Bond flicks. Fans of the real British spy movies with the right sense of humor will find this one out-of-this-world; the rest will simply yawn and search for more intelligent fare. Its status as a cult hit has only been enhanced by the much more popular 1999 sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.