Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Now this was when Mike Myers was funny. The movie itself is funnier if you are familiar with the James Bond films (then you can catch the references to such well-known characters as Blofeld, Oddjob, and Pussy Galore) but even if you've never seen a Bond film in your life, this one's still worth checking out. The character of Basil Exposition - the Ministry of Defense agent who tells Austin what's what - is brilliant. It lets them get away with including tons of exposition and not making it feel weird. Myers pulls off playing both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, though I really enjoy the second film when Rob Lowe shows up as a young Robert Wagner. Satires are made to poke fun at everything else and this one doesn't disappoint. It does have a strange habit of separating scenes with odd musical interludes featuring a group called Ming Tea and also occasionally breaks the fourth wall, but it fits. Seth Green is great as Dr. Evil's estranged son Scott Evil and watch for cameos by Carrie Fisher and Will Farrell. Also, do the fembots remind anyone else of the number six Cylon?
My Netflix rating: 4 stars
This makes me want to see this one again!
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