Incredibly, next year marks the 25th anniversary of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery landing in theaters, where it instantly gave birth to one of modern cinema’s most quotable characters.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing at least a couple of Mike Myers’ many catchphrases being thrown around, whether they hailed from the title hero, Dr. Evil or Fat Bastard. It’s been two decades since Goldmember brought the original trilogy to a close, and yet fans have kept their fingers crossed that the long-rumored fourth installment will eventually come to fruition.
Austin Powers can currently be found as one of Twitter’s top topics, and while nobody seems sure as to why it suddenly started trending, fans are piling in to praise how well the trilogy holds up when viewed through a modern lens almost a quarter of a century later.
Not to make you feel old, but if someone were to remake Austin Powers today, they’d be time traveling back to 1991, which was coincidentally the year before Myers’ movie career took off with the release of Wayne’s World. The scattershot humor and absurdist comedy stylings of the shagadelic secret agent remain as funny now as they did back then, while there’s always hope that Warner Bros.’ increased love of nostalgia will bring some tangible rewards.