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Born in 1963, Mike Myers has been a major force in the American comedy milieu since the late 1980s after getting his big breakthrough on Saturday Night Live. Myers, in his way, continued on the blast from SNL into the role of Hollywood film star which first launched with the likes of Chevy Chase, Dan Akyroyd, Bill Murray, and John Belushi. With the exception of the likes of Eddie Murray and (possibly) Joe Piscopo, not many SNL alumni had left the show in the wake of the "The Not Ready for Prime Time Players" of the late '70s. It was Mike Myers who re-started the SNL comedian transitioning away from the show, moving into the role of Hollywood blockbuster star.
What follows are our favorite Mike Myers films (in no particular order):
Wayne's World (1992)
You have to image what the thoughts were of the studio executives who green-lit Wayne's World--a movie that was based on one of the most popular Saturday Night Live sketches in the history of the show. A movie based on a 5-minute sketch? It's doubtful that no-one could have foreseen the box-office success that Wayne's World would have on its release. And yet, the movie is funny, and while it doesn't necessarily allow Mike Myers much stretch regarding her acting chops--it would be Wayne's World that would kick start his star his Hollywood career. The film would, not only, kick start Myer's career, but it would also spawn a sequel the year after as well as a Super Nintendo video game.
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
Replacing actor Tim Allen (ABC's Home Improvement), who dropped out of the role of the "The Cat" due to scheduling conflicts, Myers came on board to bring the influential Dr. Seuss character to life. The film also follows the success big-budget Ron Howard adaptation of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas just two years earlier, and while, Myers brought a special quality to the role of The Cat, the film, to this day, isn't as memorable as it probably should be some 12 years later.
54 (1998)
Written and directed by Mark Christopher, and featuring Mike Myers in a pseudo-cameo role as founder of the infamous New York City nightclub Studio 54, Steve Rubell, the film barely made its money back at the box office amidst the extremely poor reviews it received from the film critics. Myers as Rubell is almost unrecognizable. The film follows actor Ryan Phillippe, a young kid who comes to New York and becomes immersed into the New York nightlife of sex and drugs in the late
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Coming off the success of Wayne's World, Myers starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer as a choice down the line for the film's producers, as originally, such comedy legends as Woody Allen, Chevy Chase, Albert Brooks, and Martin Short were first approached to play the role of "Charlie." Myers is funny in the role, and for the era in which the film was made, which allowed for an entire slew of weird cross-genre comedies (horror-comedy, being the prime example)--it was a box office flop, not even making back half of its budget on its theatrical run initially. However, the film has become a sort of cult classic thanks to its continuous run on cable in the late '90s.
Austin Powers (1997)
The film that cemented Myer's Hollywood legend. A project made with love, Myers wrote Austin Powers himself and the film is an amalgamation of comedy tropes as well as his desire to lampoon the 1960s British spy genre. The film pokes fun at the James Bond movies, Our Man Flint, as well as the Dean Martin Matt Helm mid-'60s sexy spy comedies. Myers plays Austin Powers, a secret agent who is frozen in the '60s and thawed out thirty years later to stop his evil arch nemesis Dr. Evil (also played by Myers) from taking over the world.--none of which are better than the original.