The Austin Powers films were perhaps the perfect parody of what was the ultra-campy James Bond films at the time. Looking back upon the earlier, pre-Daniel Craig Bond films it’s difficult not to see the patterns and sheer ridiculousness in them, which is why Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was so funny. It was rife with references to the Bond films (and other spy films that came in the wake of 007) and while it was clearly a comedy, many of the characters and their motivations were exactly the same as those from the films, just framed in a comical fashion.
Recently, there has been a rash of taking older, goofier franchises and giving them a more “gritty” Hollywood treatment, which has led to a lot of the “sameness” in films right now. A perfect example of going overboard with grit would be Batman v. Superman: The Dawn of Justice, which looked to capitalize on the popularity of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, but lacked any of the charm or sense of wonder that those films possessed. That’s why this spoof trailer of Austin Powers is just so funny. Much like the original film perfectly parodied a cottage industry of cookie-cutter spy films, this spoof takes the original Austin Powers and recuts a trailer filled with dramatic music, powerful text and attempts to make the film gritty.
This trailer feels especially timely considering there have been talks about a fourth Austin Powers, the speculation over who will be the new James Bond and the return of Jason Bourne. The world feels ready for more spy parodies.
