The basic premise of the film is quite hilarious. Secret agent Austin Powers is a marvelous mix of James Bond and his various clones. The movie begins with a dance sequence that is quite is hysterical, and Myers' overblown trendy 60's garb and dialogue are priceless.
The story concerns secret agent Austin Powers and his arch rival Dr. Evil. Rather than be caught by Powers, Evil freezes himself in the 60s, only to thaw out in the present day. Powers opts to also be frozen, so that he can live to fight Dr. Evil another day. When both hero and villain return to the land of the living they are hopelessly out of touch, and therein lies the predicament of the film. The story and characters are an obvious spoof of the Bond films and various other secret agent shows like the Avengers, but its a gentle spoof. Indeed, Myers offers an affectionate reminder of the 60s and gives the film its charm.
The great weakness of the film, however, is Myers constant infatuation with body parts. He has a garish dental display that is quite amusing, but his over abundance of chest hair seems pretty pointness. Further, there are needless bathroom jokes that run throughout the film, first during the unfreezing process then through the name of one of the characters, to a murder scene that is supposed to parallel constipation. The joke is only funny for about two percent of the time dedicated to it.
The film also features a moderately clever scene where Elizabeth Hurley sits in the foreground eating breakfast, while Myers wanders around naked in the background. Hurley moves various items on the breakfast tray to cover Myers' body parts. It must have been really difficult to co-ordinate the scene, its certainly painstaking to watch. The scene requires meticulous timing, which neither Hurley nor Myers have. Worse still, is they repeat the scene with some variation, at the end of the movie. It was moderately amusing at the beginning, its utterly dull at the end.
Myers list of costars is impressive. Elizabeth Hurley, Robert Wagner and Michael York each provide the exact aplomb required for their roles. In general, Austin Powers International Man of Mystery is a charming movie, that just doesn't quite make it. Myers should have more faith in his own ability to be funny and not resort to tossing in boring bathroom humor that lowers the tone of an otherwise pleasant romp in the past.