Austin Powers: Difference between revisions

 

=== '''[[Trope Namer]] for the following''' ===

* [[Fat Bastard]]

* Almost the [[Trope Namer]] for [[Preemptive Shut Up]]

----

* [[Affectionate Parody]]: The first is mostly, as mentioned below, a parody of James Bond knockoffs and sixties culture in general. This is mostly continued in the second one, with various bits of sci-fi thrown in with all the time travel abuse. The third movie parodies [[Blaxploitation]] movies and, well, the Austin Powers franchise itself.

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Elvis Costello performed in ''The Spy Who Shagged Me''. But the scene in question took place in 1969, which meant he would've only been fifteen years old (and looked much older than that). Of course, this is played for laughs like everything else.

** While snooping around Alotta Fagina's penthouse in the first movie, Austin discovers a folder with some of Virtucon's [[Evil Plan|Evil Plans]] listed inside. In between "Human Organ Trafficking" and "Project Vulcan" is... "Carrot Top Movie".

* [[Artistic License Geology]]: A pretty minor example; Dr. Evil refers to the Earth's core as the "liquid hot magma core." For one thing, the Earth's core is not liquid, but is solidified by the intense pressure around it. Another thing, it's made of iron and nickel, not magma.

*** The steamroller bit goes into [[Overly Long Gag]] territory because the Mook stands there for a full 15 seconds shouting "STOOOOOP!" before the steamroller slowly crushes him.

** And again in ''The Spy Who Shagged Me''. When Dr. Evil hits the self-destruct button, then throws the bottle containing Austin's "mojo" into the air, [[Time Travel|Both Austins]] do this while they try to catch the jar.

* [[Bond Girl]]: In each film.

* [[Borrowed Catchphrase]]: At the end of ''Goldmember'', Dr. Evil says "Yeah baby!" Everyone stares blankly at him, and he adds: "No? Just trying it on."

* [[Brain Bleach]]: "[[Margaret Thatcher]] naked on a cold day! Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day!"

{{quote| Become International Man Of Mystery.<br />

Save World From Certain Doom.<br />

Catch Dr. Evil [[You Can't Thwart Stage One|in the First Act]].<br />

[[Twin Threesome Fantasy|Threesome With Japanese Twins]].<br />

* [[Brick Joke]]: In the first film, Austin claims to hate Carnies (or "circus folk") because they "smell like cabbage". Two films later, ''his father'' is ambushed by Mini-Me. His response? "I thought I smelled cabbage."

** When the first movie begins Austin has just propositioned a pair of Japanese twins before he's called away to save the world, much to his dismay. Two movies later (again) the list above appears.

* [[British Teeth]]: Austin's teeth are so horrible they ''crack his car's mirror''. Becomes a [[Brick Joke]] later when Vanessa tells him to use the [[Shoe Phone|toothpaste explosive]] and he responds "I know, I have bad teeth!"

* [[Bulletproof Human Shield]]: Robin Swallows, from ''The Spy Who Shagged Me''.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Mustafa, Scott Evil.

* [[California Doubling]]: [[Lampshaded]]. "Isn't it amazing how much England looks in no way like southern California?"

* [[Calling Your Attacks]]: "Judo X!"

* [[Carnival of Killers]]: Among the various killers hired by Dr Evil are [[James Bond|an Asian man using his shoe to kill people named Random Task]] and a vaguely Middle-Eastern man who angers Dr Evil but will just not die.

* [[Carpet of Virility]]: Austin's ridiculously hairy chest, which women improbably seem to love.

* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]] Alata Vagina after the first movie and Felicity Shagwell in the third movie

* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: As noted above in [[Above the Influence]], for as much of a womanizer he is, Austin won't take advantage of a drunk woman.

* [[Contractual Genre Blindness]]: Dr. Evil.

* [[Convection Schmonvection]]: The hollowed-out volcano from ''The Spy Who Shagged Me'', in particular the [[Lava Pit]] [[Death Trap]].

{{quote| "Your ''fajah'' is about to have an [[Catch Phrase|unfortunate smelting accident]]!"}}

* [[Cosmopolitan Council]]: Dr. Evil's Council. The United Nations.

{{quote| '''Dr. Evil:''' "No Scott, I have a better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death..." ([[Beat]]) [[Defensive What|"...what?"]]}}

* [[Deer in The Headlights]]: Parodied with the guard and the steamroller.

** "My God, Vanessa's got a fantastic body. I bet she shags like a minx. How do I tell her that, because of the unfreezing process, I have no inner-monologue? I hope I didn't say that out loud just now."

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: Done a lot.

* [[Double Entendre]].

* [[Dressing As the Enemy]]: [[Once an Episode|Once a movie]], and [[Played for Laughs]].

* [[Elaborate Underground Base]]: Dr. Evil in the first movie.

{{quote| "Welcome to my UNDERGROUND LAIR!!"}}

*** It was less Scott's enthusiasm and more that he just let the evil laugh run away with him. Evil has standards, alright... but about not being too weird with your villain laugh, not about the sanctity of life. Same with Goldmember... it's not that he goes too far, it's that he's just too ''weird''. (But then, he is from Holland...)

* [[Even the Subtitler Is Stumped]]: Two words -- ''English'' English.

* [[Evil Eyebrows]]: Dr Evil.

* [[Evil Laugh]]: Spoofed massively. Often causes those trying to emulate Doctor Evil to fail hard.

* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Vanessa is a [[Sex Bot|Fembot]]. Which is revealed at the beginning of the second movie, apropos of nothing but the [[Rule of Funny]]. But... hey, now Austin is single again! '''YEAH, BABY!!!'''

* [[Face Ship]]: Dr Evil's sub in ''Goldmember'' is modeled after him.

* [[Fan Disservice]]: Naked Fat Bastard in the second movie. Send the [[Brain Bleach]]!

* [[Fat Bastard]]: [[Trope Namer|Obvious]].

* [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]]: Austin and Dr. Evil, in the first film.

* [[Flanderization]]: Especially evident in ''Austinpussy'' (the movie-within-a-movie in Goldmember).

* [[Flirting Under Fire]]: In ''The Spy Who Shagged Me'', Austin and Felicity have a tender moment... while standing in a laughably pathetic [[Death Trap]].

* [[Freudian Excuse]]: Supposedly, one of the mains reasons Dr. Evil became, well, evil was that he was raised in Belgium.

* [[Freudian Slip]]: In ''Goldmember'', Austin repeatedly saying "dad" or "father" instead of other words.

* [[Gag Penis]]: Aside from everything Nigel says about Mini-Me's endowments, there's the fact that when Mini-Me lowers his pants, there is an audible ''thump''.

** Goldmember has a gold...er, [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|member.]]

{{quote| "Look at you. You haven't even got a ''[[Nominal Importance|name tag]]''! You've got [[Mook|no chance]]. Why don't you just fall down?"}}

* [[Girl of the Week]]: Every trope that applies to a Bond Girl applies to Austin's women.

* [[Goofy Print Underwear]]: Austin's Union Jack underpants. Yeah.

* [[GPS Evidence]]

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: In ''Goldmember''--Mini-Me and {{spoiler|Dr. Evil}}. Fat Bastard, as well. And maybe Frau and Number 2.

* [[High Heel Face Turn]]: The second film's sexy evil foreigner with a highly suggestive name, Ivana Humpalot, was sent to kill Austin Powers but instead finds him so attractive that she ends up confessing to her agenda and just asks him to make love to her. Apparently she was so attracted to him that she made no move to kill him even after he lost his mojo in the middle of sex.

* [[Human Popsicle]]: Austin and Dr. Evil.

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: Once a movie, Austin will make one about a [[Mook]]'s death

* [[Hypocritical Humor]]: There's two things Nigel Powers can't stand: people who are intolerant of other people's cultures...''and the '''Dutch'''!''

{{quote| '''Austin''': "This coffee smells like shit."<br />

'''Basil''': "It ''is'' shit, Austin."<br />

* [[Iron Butt Monkey]]: Mustafa, who can withstand quite a bit of punishment before finally dying.

* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: Without an actual cut, though.

* [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]: Nigel Powers.

* [[Juggling Loaded Guns]]: Austin can be seen shaking his arms and blinking uncontrollably whenever he fires his gun. Mike Myers notes in the commentary that it was done only half-intentionally, as Mike himself had [[Enforced Method Acting|never fired a gun before]].

* [[Laugh With Me]]: Dr. Evil doesn't like to make an [[Evil Laugh]] by himself. Parodied in the last scene of the third movie where Scott laughs alone and desperately turns in every direction for someone to join in.

* [[London England Syndrome]]: The [[Trope Namer]] was referring to this film.

** Gender-swapped in the second film, when Frau Farbissina admits she is Scott's mother.

** {{spoiler|Played straight in the third film, when it's revealed Austin and Dr. Evil are brothers}}.

** In the second and third films, Fat Bastard gives a heartfelt speech about his weight... then farts.

* [[Mook Chivalry]]: "Look, here's how it goes, you attack me one at a time and I knock you out with one punch, okay? Go."

{{quote| '''Dr. Evil''': Save the world... or save your girlfriend.}}

* [[Mr. Exposition]]: Basil, whose last name [[Lampshade Hanging|IS Exposition]].

* [[Never the Selves Shall Meet]]: Averted in ''The Spy Who Shagged Me'', when Austin not only interacts with a ten-minute-younger version of himself, but the two of them apparently wind up engaging in a three-way with Felicity Shagwell.

{{quote| "Technically it's not cheating, baby!"}}

* [[The Nineties]]: The first two movies. The third one takes place in 2002.

* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: During the car chase in Japan:

'''Austin''': [[Double Entendre|But now I can see you're nuts.]] [''looks at camera''] Ah, thank you. }}

* [[No Indoor Voice]]: "I'm finding it hard to control THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!"

* [[Not So Different]]: Parodies in the first movie- Dr. Evil tries this, but as he lectures he realizes that he and Austin are actually nothing alike.

** Tried again in ''Goldmember''... which also fails.

*** Although this instance seems to be a subtle foreshadowing {{spoiler|of them finding out that they do have something in common - a father - at the end of the movie}}.

* [[Number Two]]: Literally, Number Two.

** And Will Ferrell as Mustafa.

* [[Only Sane Man]]: [[Seth Green|Scott Evil,]] to an extent.

* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: There's a point during the [[Overly Long Gag|overly long evil laughing scene]] in the first film where Mike Myers reverts to his normal voice.

* [[Overly Long Gag]]: The series even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]], spoofs, ''and'' plays it straight as one of their overlong [[Running Gag|running gags]] is interrupted by a cameo from the Osbornes... who then turn out to be the part of it that brings it full circle.

** Case in point, Austin's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09D8hAcUzms "evacuation"] from the first movie.

*** Felicity Shagwell.

* [[Refuge in Vulgarity]]: Numerous examples, not the least of which was the coffee gag in the second film.

* [[Reverse Mole]]: Number Three. [[Irony|Try not to think about it too much]].

* [[Reverse Polarity]]: Trying to stop the MIDAS asteroid from crashing into Earth and flooding it.

* [[Rule of Funny]]: Honestly, the series has a time-traveling car that travels [[Back to The Future (Film)|not by accelerating to 88 miles per hour]], but by bouncing really hard on its seventies-style tricked out suspension. If you can swallow that but not {{spoiler|Vanessa being a [[Robot Girl|fembot]]}}, you need to recite [[MST3K Mantra|the mantra]].

* [[Rule of Three]]: Spoofed in the second film, where one of Dr. Evil's assassins always answers a question truthfully the third time it's asked, because he can't stand being asked the same question three times.

* [[Sealed Evil in A Can]]: The freezing of Dr. Evil.

* [[Sealed Good in A Can]]: Ditto for Austin.

* [[Sequel Reset]]: I'm single again! Yeah!

* [[The Seventies]] and [[The Eighties]]: "You're not missing anything. There was a gas shortage, and [[A Flock of Seagulls]]."

* [[Show Within a Show]]: ''Austinpussy'', originally the intended title of the third film (a parody of ''[[Octopussy (Film)|Octopussy]])''), which they couldn't get past the censors. It was directed by [[Steven Spielberg]] and starred Tom Cruise as Austin, Gwyneth Paltrow as the [[Bond Girl]], Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil, Danny DeVito as Mini-me, and John Travolta as {{spoiler|Goldmember}}.

* [[Sigil Spam]]

* [[The Sixties]]

* [[Skirts and Ladders]]: Austin can't help but stare when Vanessa climbs up a ladder ahead of him.

* [[Something Else Also Rises]]: Austin puts the lotion on Felicity Shagwell's back.

* [[Sound Effect Bleep]]: Utilized during the cutaway to the Osbournes in ''Goldmember''.

* [[Suddenly Shouting]]:

{{quote| '''Basil Exposition''': The shouting is a temporary side effect of the unfreezing.<br />

* [[Uranus Is Showing]]: At the end of the first movie, Austin makes this joke.

* [[Unstoppable Rage]]: Dr. Evil, after a Klansmen called Scott Evil a "freak", ends up going ballistic: He ends up fighting even when being restrained by Steve Wilkos and the other members of security, and after seemingly calming down, he then rushes to attack him again (something that never happens on the Jerry Springer show). And then instigates a full-out brawl on the set. Eventually, he seems calmed down... until Jerry Springer tells security to get Dr. Evil out of the premises, upon which his rage was reawakened, and starts fighting with the host, eventually managing to smash a globe in the ensuing stage riot.

* [[Video Phone]]: Austin has one in his car. Very helpful for [[Mr. Exposition|Basil Exposition]] to talk to him.

* [[Villain Ball]]: Dr. Evil doesn't hold the [[Villain Ball]] so much as have it surgically implanted where his brain should be.

* [[The Watson]]: Scott.

* [[Wave Motion Gun]]: The "Death Star". ([[Cough Snark Cough|Ripoff!]]).

** Inverted with Scott, who wants nothing to do with Dr. Evil despite his father's attempts at bonding, then ''finally'' wins his dad's respect. {{spoiler|Too bad his dad becomes Good.}}

* [[What Are Records]]: Inverted, with Austin trying to play a CD on a turntable.

* [[Wire Fu]]: Parodied. [[Fat Bastard]] tries to use a [[Wire Fu]] attack on Austin in the third movie (to the point of actually visibly held up by wires and calling attention to the people in the background holding him up.) One of the wires breaks halfway through, though, and he's just left dangling in the air.

* [[You Have Failed Me]]: Dr. Evil punishes his minions by dumping them through a trapdoor to be [[Kill It With Fire|burned alive]]. When he tries it again in the '90s, the unfortunate Mook is left alive but "very badly burned" and is finally dispatched by another Mook with poor aim. His botched execution is [[Played for Laughs]].