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Mike Myers is the kind of actor you can’t be indifferent about. While some people love his crazy and somewhat exaggerated style of acting, others simply can’t stand looking at him. Well, regardless of your feelings towards him, you can’t deny the impact he’s had on popular culture. So, in order to celebrate his unique sense of humor, here are 5 of his most memorable movie performances over the years. Take a look.
The Cat in the Hat
We’ll start things off with one of his worst roles in movie history – The Cat in the Hat. Currently holding a score of mere 3.8, this family flick is considered an extremely unworthy adaptation of Dr. Seuss‘ legendary book for kids. The plot follows two young children – Sally and her brother, who discover an anthropomorphic cat in their house wearing a tall red&white hat and a matching scarf. The cat helps children have some fun but creates havoc along the way, damaging and destroying parts of the house. While the original story was a bestselling masterpiece, the film failed miserably. The critics crucified the film with one of the reviewers comparing the film to a stand-up comedian dying on stage. Nevertheless, the film was memorable enough to make it on our list.
So I Married an Axe Murderer
One of the best things about Mike Meyers’ films is that they can be great if you don’t expect too much. So I Married an Axe Murderer is one of those movies. Somewhat expectedly, Mike plays two roles, the one of a young man hopelessly in love with a potential axe murderer as well as his father. The whole point of the film lies in the uncertainty – whether the girl is actually the killer or not, but by the end of the film, you realize that you really didn’t care. All that this film does is it confirms Mike Myers as an exceptional improviser with a huge amount of energy. The plot is laughable (and not in a good way), the setting is unoriginal, but there are a couple of worthy jokes in there, you just need to dig dip to find them.
Wayne’s World
Undoubtedly, one of the breakthrough roles for Mike Myers was in the cult movie Wayne’s World. The film was adapted from a Saturday Night Live sketch and follows a couple of rock enthusiasts, Wayne and Garth who host an underground TV show called Wayne’s World. Their show is bought by a large corporation and the duo tries their best to stop it from ruining the whole concept of the show. Written partly by Mike Myers himself, this film quickly became a classic and brought him worldwide fame. Interestingly, the director of the film, Penelope Spheeris, and Myers had a number of fallouts throughout the shoot, which made it a rather unpleasant experience for the both of them.
Austin Powers
Of course, the first name that pops to mind when we say Mike Myers is Austin Powers. This cheeky secret agent parody became iconic both because of Myers’ outrageous acting and because of some extremely memorable lines. In the first movie, Austin Powers, a top agent in the 1960’s cryogenically freezes himself in order to be of service if his arch nemesis Dr. Evil ever wakes up. The secret agency eventually unfreezes Austin Powers in the 90s to ask for help, but he has a lot of trouble adapting to a new era. The comedy in this ludicrous film relies mostly on Myers’ performance and he does an amazing job. Up to this point, there have been 3 Austin Powers films, but the fourth one has been announced recently.
Shrek
The younger generations probably know Myers mainly for his voice acting in Shrek where he stars alongside Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. He plays a grumpy ogre living in a world of fairytales, who unwillingly goes on a quest to save a princess together with his annoyingly chatty donkey friend. Of course, the quest becomes quite an unexpected experience for everyone. This first film was fantastic, but the money-hungry producers continued to make films, gradually losing the quality and killing the franchise. After three sequels, two holiday specials, and a spin-off, everyone was sure that the franchise finally died out, but they’ve announced yet another sequel in the future. Hopefully, they’ll leave the characters alone.
Looking at his career, you can’t really say that Mike Myers was a versatile actor, but he certainly gave us some colorful characters that we’ll never forget.
