‘Austin’: ‘60s Spy Fans Will Be Crying Uncle

Poor Mike Myers. Didn’t anyone ever tell him you can’t spoof camp? In “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery,” he takes on what seem to be ripe topics for parody--the late ‘60s spy genre and the Swinging London aesthetic--and discovers that the satire’s long been exhausted.

Myers, “Saturday Night Live” alumnus and the auteur-savant behind “Wayne’s World,” does triple duty in “Austin Powers”: one screenplay, two characters. He’s Austin, a preening English fashion photographer by day, undercover agent by night, and round-the-clock playboy. And he’s Austin’s archenemy, the whiny Dr. Evil. The setup? It’s 1967, and Dr. Evil eludes the law by having himself cryogenically frozen and shot into space. Austin is frozen, too, so he’ll be there when Dr. Evil returns. The gag? Upon thawing, both characters are so out of touch with ‘90s mores and crime that the result is a comedy of errors.

Errors, yes. Comedy . . . we’re not so sure. Most of the films and TV series in which Myers roots the Austin character--”The Avengers,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” even the James Bond films--were already spoofs. They seldom took themselves seriously and their concessions to period fashions were as arch as their dialogue. Myers seems to have missed the joke, approaching all this material as if there were somebody or something to knock off a pedestal. There isn’t.

And the sorry fact is, the material satirized in “Austin Powers” was a good deal more self-aware--and therefore hipper--than anything Myers has cooked up. It may be asking a lot, but if one is going to send up a genre, or an era, or even a sense of style, isn’t one required to be funnier than one’s subject matter? Myers’ idea of scintillating wit is naming his Italian vamp Alotta Fagina (Fabiana Udenio) or mocking Dr. Evil for his pre-Nixonian appreciation of the dollar--he wants a million not to destroy the world and is practically laughed out of the movie. Along the way, male-anatomy jokes are beaten into the ground with an insistence that’s mortifying.

What’s more poignant than funny is how the ever-lecherous Austin, with his pinstripes and pyorrhea (English dental jokes abound), is introduced to post-AIDS sexuality. The lesson is delivered by Vanessa (Elizabeth Hurley), the daughter of Austin’s now-retired partner, Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers), who often looks at Austin the way audiences will be looking at this movie.

Sixties-ites Michael York and Robert Wagner are included in the cast, but there are no cameos by Diana Rigg as Mrs. Peel or Robert Vaughan as Napoleon Solo. Had there been, it would have been pointless: “Austin Powers” is a movie whose sense of humor is aimed at those far too young to get the big joke, and all but guaranteed to turn off those who do.

* MPAA rating: PG-13 for nudity, sex-related dialogue and humor. Times guidelines: No profanity or violence but the sexual innuendo is relentless.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’

Mike Myers: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil

Elizabeth Hurley: Vanessa Kensington

Michael York: Basil Exposition

Mimi Rogers: Mrs. Kensington

Robert Wagner: Number Two

Seth Green: Scott Evil

A Moving Pictures/Eric’s Boy production, released by New Line Cinema in association with Capella International/KC Medien. Director Jay Roach. Producers Suzanne Todd, Demi Moore, Jennifer Todd, Mike Myers. Screenplay by Mike Myers. Cinematographer Peter Deming. Editor Debra Neil-Fisher. Costumes Deena Appel. Music George S. Clinton. Production design Cynthia Charette. Art director Daniel Olexiewicz. Set decorator Bob Kensinger. Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.