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This week, I decided to delve into a series that probably everyone reading this has seen at least once, if not multiple times.  The Austin Powers series has so much going for it that it is almost viral in the way it affects the brain.  In addition to bringing to the screen some of the most memorable characters ever, Mike Myers has made a trilogy of flicks that is so quotable that some of us had to literally slap our friends after hearing “Yeah, baby!” for the ten-thousandth time.  Not to mention that the Dr. Evil pinky-to-mouth gesture is still prevalent in many circles.  But, despite the overload that such an oft-quoted movie creates, it is rare to find the person that doesn’t instantly recognize what you’re talking about when some Austin Powers jargon emerges into the conversation.  Personally, I love these films still.  In fact, where I would usually be able to state which in a trilogy is my definite favorite, the Austin Powers series often has me switching up my favorites because each has its own hilarious elements.  Unfortunately, not all agree with me.  While the first movie received a fairly positive 70/71% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics site, the following flicks only garnered 51/72% and 54/47% respectively.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) -

This is where it all began.  Mike Myers takes on the role of both Austin Powers, a James Bond rip-off that’s stuck in the 60s, and his nemesis, Dr. Evil, a James Bond villain that is… well, mostly still stuck in the 60s.  Of course, the two opponents are out of time because they’ve both been frozen for 30 years.  Dr. Evil, escaping from Powers as he stormed his lair and thwarted his plans, launched into space and ended up frozen.  Powers voluntarily enters into a cryogenic stasis so that when his nemesis comes back he’ll be fit enough to challenge him once more.

Enter 1997 and Dr. Evil is back.  So the British spy people unfreeze Powers and set him to work.  Culture clash ensures as Powers attempts to understand the new world of computers, equal rights and protected sex.  On the other side, Dr. Evil discovers that he has an artificially created son.  Scott Evil (played by the calmly hilarious Seth Green) is not like daddy at all, with no evil ambitions to rule the world.  Father and son bonding is complicated to say the least.  The story unfolds as Dr. Evil returns to threatening the world and Powers returns to trying to stop him.

This movie is a gag every minute.  Most of them work, many of them don’t.  There’s even an attempt at creating some sort of deeper meaning with Austin Powers, but you can just ignore that because it doesn’t really matter.  What makes the movie shine is an excellent comedy script, two great performances by Myers and a host of talented supporting cast.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) -

In the second installment in the trilogy, Mike Myers adds one more character to the list of roles he plays.  Fat Bastard (as politically incorrect as he may be) is another classic character.  He is rude and crude and, deep below the surface, he has a heart of gold… sort of.  Together with Dr. Evil and Austin Powers himself, Myers makes The Spy Who Shagged Me just as entertaining as the first flick.

This time around, Dr. Evil travels back in time to steel Powers’ “mojo”, the secret genetic (?) ingredient in his make-up that makes him such a damn good spy (and sex machine) despite his seeming incompetence.  He also has the help of Mini-Me, a DNA clone of himself that, due to technical difficulties, only turned out at one-eighth his size.  Of course, Powers has to follow him back into the 60s, so both hero and villain are once again on familiar ground.  Once Dr. Evil has the sacred mojo, he resumes his activities as an evil villain by threatening to blow up the world using his “laser”.

Once again, Austin Powers delivers on the funny.  Many of the gags are recycled from the first flick, but the repetition of Austin Powers-themed gimmicks is one of the appeals of this series.  And the addition of Mini-Me is brilliant and he has since become one of the fan favorites.

Goldmember (2002) -

The final installment in the series, Goldmember recycles a bit on the back-in-time premise as Dr. Evil returns (this time to the 70s) and grabs up another villain (the titular Goldmember, also played by Myers) to help him with his villainous plans.  This time, he wishes to snatch a meteor out of orbit and smash it into the Earth.  So it’s Austin Powers to the rescue, both in the past and the present.

In the final film, we finally get to see Scott Evil trying to walk in his father’s footsteps and Seth Green does the job great.  He even manages to secure some sharks with laser beams on their heads to appease daddy.  Mini-Me falls out of favor with the good doctor, much to the detriment of his plans.  And in the end, we discover a few things about the real relationship between Dr. Evil and Powers and everything turns out wonderful.

The third flick is a great end to the series and even features the amazing Michael Caine in the role of Austin’s father.  Some people try to say that this one was the worst of the lot, but in a series where a good pile of the jokes are running, it’s hard to make that claim in earnest.  Goldmember gives us a finale and it does it in such a way that we are mostly satisfied.  I say “mostly”, because I really, really want to see a new flick with Seth Green as the villain.  Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to happen.

Photo Credits -           

Austin Powers courtesy of tvtropes.org

Mini-Me courtesy of vapetv.com

Dr. Evil courtesy of diyhpl.us