It has been a few years since Mike Myers delivered something really good to his audience and it made me rent this DVD compilation of his time at SNL to remind me what it was about him that made him famous in the first place. I say "remind" but really I'd never seen his SNL stuff other than how it came to be his break into films; mainly I was just curious to see how he used to be since I now see him potentially falling into the camp of "established" stars who are ceasing to be funny and are being pushed by those coming in below them. The weird thing about this DVD compilation then is how most of the sketches are reliant on others.
I watched the Will Ferrell compilation recently and it was a mix but mostly he either carried a sketch by himself or, where he was in a group, he did make himself the main part of the sketch. With Myers it is not quite that way because we have a lot of sketches with star guests ranging from Madonna, to Aerosmith, to Alec Baldwin and so on. This doesn't mean things are bad but just that the feel of the compilation is a bit weird because I didn't get the impression that it was about Meyers himself. Either way though, the compilation is still pretty funny. Personally I didn't find a lot of it to be hilarious so much as I did amusing, but it did still work for me across the whole DVD.
Myers has some good characters here, although his stock ones are recognisable for being used frequently in his films (the English ones are the most obvious). He works them pretty well and is funny but it is telling that he struggles any time the writing is less than great. Fans will disagree but I was a bit surprised by how many sketches and characters seemed to rely on catchphrases and the ones I was overly familiar with had dated badly and didn't make me laugh as much as the audience at the time did (Wayne's World being the most obvious example). The many stars involved all give good accounts of themselves, with even Madonna doing pretty well in the comedy stakes (on this occasion).
Overall this is a pretty solidly funny compilation even if it lacks a consistent air of hilarity. Myers himself has good timing and delivery but I didn't see as much strength and diversity as I would have expected looking back on someone who has gotten very rich and successful off the back of his career as showcased here. Fans will love it of course and the casual viewer should find it enjoyable if not brilliant.
I watched the Will Ferrell compilation recently and it was a mix but mostly he either carried a sketch by himself or, where he was in a group, he did make himself the main part of the sketch. With Myers it is not quite that way because we have a lot of sketches with star guests ranging from Madonna, to Aerosmith, to Alec Baldwin and so on. This doesn't mean things are bad but just that the feel of the compilation is a bit weird because I didn't get the impression that it was about Meyers himself. Either way though, the compilation is still pretty funny. Personally I didn't find a lot of it to be hilarious so much as I did amusing, but it did still work for me across the whole DVD.
Myers has some good characters here, although his stock ones are recognisable for being used frequently in his films (the English ones are the most obvious). He works them pretty well and is funny but it is telling that he struggles any time the writing is less than great. Fans will disagree but I was a bit surprised by how many sketches and characters seemed to rely on catchphrases and the ones I was overly familiar with had dated badly and didn't make me laugh as much as the audience at the time did (Wayne's World being the most obvious example). The many stars involved all give good accounts of themselves, with even Madonna doing pretty well in the comedy stakes (on this occasion).
Overall this is a pretty solidly funny compilation even if it lacks a consistent air of hilarity. Myers himself has good timing and delivery but I didn't see as much strength and diversity as I would have expected looking back on someone who has gotten very rich and successful off the back of his career as showcased here. Fans will love it of course and the casual viewer should find it enjoyable if not brilliant.