The SNL tradition has been a witness to some of the most entertaining characters in the history of pop culture. Austin Powers too is a product of that rich tradition. Played by Mike Myers, the Austin Powers character was created following a successful SNL stint that aired around the early part of the 1990s. Following that, Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, and Myers himself formed the faux British band known as Ming Tea.
Traditionally, the band members would perform under pseudonyms, Myers took the pseudonym of Austin Powers. Shortly, his wife suggested that Myers could develop a movie out of this much-loved character, and thus began the making of history.
What is the origin story of Austin Powers?
The Austin Powers movie franchise made quite a stir, to say the least. The movies could be categorized as mock detective movies that mimicked spy movies such as the ones of the so-called character of James Bond. Mike Myers, in the leading role of Austin Powers, plays a spy who had been practically frozen for some time in the 1960s and was revived in the 1990s.
It is obvious that a lot has changed over this period and Powers finds himself to be out of place in the buttoned-up societal culture. Owing to such popularity, several video games were also released alongside the release of the different installments of the franchise.
Why are the Austin Powers movies Popular Even Today?
There had been an introductory television movie starring the titular character of Austin Powers before it delivered 3 successful feature-length movies. It remains a constant source of entertainment as to how and why a movie that was released decades ago in the 1990s holds relatability even today.
Perhaps, it was the originality of the series that keeps the audience entertained even today. Myers did play the titular character of Austin, but along with that, he also played quite a few other characters in the movies as well. Needless to say, he did it with the utmost expertise.
For instance: DR. Evil, the antagonistic villain figure of the movie was also played by Myers. This character too had only recently awoken from the sleep similar to that of Powers. Both the characters are highly incompetent and therefore their constant cat-and-mouse chase draws nicely into a comic dimension. It is obvious a hero and a villain, constantly battling against each other in a world that is new to both of them, would take hilarious turns. The originality of the plot, the superb acting, and the humorous storytelling built the movies into a successful franchise.
How many Austin Powers Movies are there?
There are three Austin Powers movies along with an introductory television movie. The chronology for the same is given below.
- Austin Powers’ Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club (1997)
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
All of these add essence to the whole popularity of Austin Powers. The movies make up for an experience that becomes essential for the audience to enjoy the complete humor of this invention of Mike Myers. Even though at times it could feel like the writer is running out of inspiration, the wholesome energy of the character and the plot always seem to regain its momentum.
1. Austin Powers’ Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club (1997)
As stated earlier, this one does not directly fall under the category of movies. However, this is equally important to understand the basic plot of the Austin Powers series. This was a TV movie that was released as a promotion of sorts for the main project. In this instalment of Austin Powers, released in April of 1997, Myers as usual plays Powers.
In a style that mimics that of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, Powers hosts a show where he is in due time joined by eminent guests such as Rosie O’Donnell, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, and others.
Myers takes this chance to introduce Powers to the world. This particular show contains basic information about the character and also features trailer-like clips of the upcoming movies on Austin Powers.
You can watch this TV movie on Amazon Prime Video or Vudu.
2. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
This was the first feature-length film starring Austin Powers. Myers functions almost as a one-man army here. Not only did he write the screenplay for the movie, but he played the character of Powers as well as a few others. Jay Roach, who had directed the movie, owes much praise; but it was Myers who stole the show. The character of Powers had been Myers’s tribute to his father. Perhaps it was this intimate connection he had with this character that helped him build it to excellence.
International Man of Mystery showed the origin story of our hero. It showed how Powers and Mr. Evil wake up from their cryogenic sleep and thereafter their conflict. Mr. Evil steals a nuclear weapon and then plans to extort money from the government.
Powers then, with the help of Vanessa Kensington, played by Elizabeth Hurley, tries to stop him. This marked the official beginning of a hilarious trail of parodied British Spy movies featuring Austin Powers.
The first feature film of the Austin Powers series, you can catch up with this fun-packed movie on Netflix or Amazon.
3. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Not being able to make much of a permanent revolution, Dr. Evil gets ready to go after Austin again in this second movie of the series. After two lengthy years of waiting, the audience was gifted this humorous masterpiece in 1999.
This time, Myers had help from Michael McCullers as well to plan the screenplay of the movie and Roach took the seat of the director again. Along with these developments, we also have Verne Troyer who plays the character of a clone of Dr. Evil in parts named Mini-Me.
It is revealed that Vanessa was a fembot which was invented by Dr. Evil himself. Dr. Evil plans to not only directly catch hold of Austin in the present but also go back to the 1960s and steal Austin’s mojo which leaves him impotent. The story takes a drastic and humorous, turn when Dr. Evil decides to hold the entire humanity hostage by traveling to the Moon and directing a huge laser toward Earth.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is now available on Netflix and you can also watch it on Amazon Prime.
4. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
The wonder team of the Austin Powers series got back together again after a wait of a couple of years and launched the last (at least for now) instalment of the movie series. By this time the audience must have gotten a bit bored of the same storyline and the plot had also started to thin out a bit.
However, the presence of the character of Austin seemed to relinquish enough for the audience. The movie also featured some old faces along with some new inclusions, such as Beyoncé who played Foxxy Cleopatra, and also Michael Cain who wonderfully carried out the role of Austin’s father, Nigel Powers.
This time, Dr. Evil, after running away from a high-security prison, dreams bigger. In this particular instalment, Dr. Evil travels back to 1975 and joins forces with Goldmember, a fellow evil enthusiast. They plan to develop a beam that will let them pull a certain meteor towards Earth.
The turn of fate would have it, Austin too returns to the same era to rescue his father who had been abducted by Goldmember. In the process, Austin also gets back together with his long-time lover Foxxy Cleopatra who, as it turned out, was also an FBI agent.
All of the Austin Powers movie series is now available on Netflix. You can either head over there or can also watch the same on Amazon Prime Video.
Factors That Made Austin Powers Franchise A Hit
A successful movie or show gets to its final stage via a lot of permutations and combinations. The Austin Powers movie series was no exception. In the course of events, some such things seem problematic but eventually add up to the success of the project. Here are some such twists of fate that worked for Austin Powers.
- Myers playing multiple roles throughout the project was one of the most striking facts that kept Austin Powers’ characters still in the running. Such a wonder would not have taken place if things had gone as Myers had expected them to. Myers had originally decided for Jim Carrey to carry out the role. The actor being busy elsewhere, Myers took the role upon himself.
- Again, the Quentin Tarantino effect surely worked wonders for Myers films. Myers too casted actors he admired as a kid into his films. This way he brought back some classical actors and actors with experience who worked brilliantly to make the characters and therefore the films became a success.
- One thing many people might not know is that the Austin Powers Movies were also the debut project of Will Ferrell. Ferrell had joined the SNL cast in 1995. His character, Mustafa, who was one of the henchmen of Dr. Evil, served as his debut character in the world of films. From thereon, Ferrell has never had to look back.