Dr Evil's plan should be to make a
silly film that makes "1 billion dollars" world
wide by the end of its cinematic, television and video
run.
"Similarly, in David
Gerrold's The Man Who Folded Himself, each time the
protagonist travels in time, he reduplicates himself.
Eventually this results in a large group of identical men
who find each other to be ideal lovers."
From Constance Penley, Time Travel, Primal
Scene and the Critical Dystopia. Mike Meyers demonstrates
prodigious knowledge of films and film theory and puts
some of it to use in this film. Perhaps Penley isn't so
mad when she talks about primal scene in time travel
films.
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Austin Powers II is yet another classic film,
combining the dumbest humour with an obviously rich
understanding of film history and paradox while
simultaneously sending it up in a very unique way. Mike
Meyers has created two brilliant characters - but by far
the best of the two is Dr Evil. He is perhaps the best
evil character of any film ever - and because he is a
send up. His whole operandum relies on the narrative
problems with the "evil" characters in bond
(and other) films (and i suspect, Inspector Gadget's Claw
comes to mind). From the opening song - which is
hilarious in that it not only sends up the typical Bond
song, but also in the character it focusses on (usually,
bond songs focus on none other than its title character)
- the movie has this "fun" feel that is
immediately accessable to everyone in the audience. It is
humour at its broadest and smartest. I feel as though
Meyers has read many of the readings in the film course
I've done. If you've read the Constance Penley article on
Time Travel films, you'll know what I mean (actually,
there was a scene cut out of the film which echoes and
makes fun of the movies the article comments on). Also
its references to Freudian theory (primal phantasy,
phallic references - especially its use in film, is
exaggerated) is acknowledged at the end. But irrespective
of its intellectual content, the movie is just funny.
Austin's phrases I can hear a million times, and Dr Evil
can not set a foot wrong. The whole relation with the son
is really well done - and then there's Mini Me and the
big joke on Jerry McGuire - no one will watch that film
again without laughing (if people ever did take the
Mcguire phrase seriously). The inversion of the "100
Billion Dollars" joke is also a highlight. And
leaving the best until last - Heather Graham (or
Rollergirl). The drool-o-meter is on maximum here and
Austin's reactions are not funny because they're spot on.
I mean, it's like 3D watching her. Cleverly, she plays
her role straight because in the 60s, Austin wasn't
wierd. 85/100 |