Myers thrives in smashing spoof

Ever the master of the savvy spoof, "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Mike Myers has been reborn once again to salvage his oft-moribund career. Straying from his banal take on heavy metal dufuses, Myers plays a 1960s hipster secret agent with terrible teeth and a bush of chest hair that would make Sean Connery proud. Austin Powers, the secret agent man in question, is a jovial, testosterone-charged Brit who, like Myers himself, causes even the most prudish to swoon despite his goofy, often unseemly looks.

REVIEW
	Austin Powers 3 stars At Briarwood and Showcase

Powers is a character that Myers was no doubt born to play, and pop cultural aping abounds from the start. In the opening title sequence, an homage to the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night," Austin runs through the streets of London, fleeing from a rampaging pack of adoring teenage fans. His sidekick is the ever-lovely Mimi Rogers in a stunning Mod Squad getup; his car is a James Bondian Aston Martin that is psychedelically painted bumper to bumper with a Union Jack.

Ha-ha.

We follow our secret agent friend on his pursuit of the notorious Dr. Evil (also played by Myers) who, in the tradition of the ubiquitous Bond foe Ernst Stavro Blofeld, escapes the clutches of Her Majesty's secret service. In the film's most ridiculous sequence, Dr. Evil cryogenically freezes himself in a Big Boy-shaped rocket ship that blasts into orbit from Piccadilly Circus. Austin himself is turned into a popsicle to combat the smarmy villain when they both thaw out 30 years later.

Fast forward to 1997, then, and our hero - a veritable Rip Van Winkle - has been defrosted in a much-changed world. Americans and Russians no longer quarrel, and much to Austin's chagrin, promiscuous sex is a thing of the past. The film begs important questions like just how the hyper-horny old bloke is supposed to survive, especially when tested by supermodel partner Elizabeth Hurley.

Despite its sporadic juvenile ploys - substituting ripe melons for a woman's behemoth bosoms is straight out of Myers' idiotic Wayne and Garth "Party on, dude!" mode - "Austin Powers" succeeds as both a strict James Bond satire and lighthearted social commentary.

The fact is: Connery's James Bond would not survive in the 1990s. (Pierce Brosnan's Bond, one would note, is a drastically altered character from his "Thunderball" days.) Communism no longer poses a threat to democracy, and casual coitus is too risky. The result makes both Bond and our current condom-covered decade seem equally silly and tragic; the world has no doubt sacrificed its carefree ways to protect itself from repeating the unpleasant 1960s.

Still, screenwriter Myers has fun with the Bond-out-of-water routine, stocking the film full with savvy pointed references to each of Connery's 007 flicks (look out for a repeat of Goldfinger's corny "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" bit). In the end, his subtle jabs indicate just how absurd an International Man of Mystery can be. Not since Roger Moore took on the Bond role has anyone so superbly satirized Connery's master spy. And never has Myers been so dead-on funny.

Smashing, baby!

Austin Powers (Mike Myers) is super groovy!

05-14-97