Wayne's World (1992) starring Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere, Brian Doyle-Murray, Lara Flynn Boyle directed by Penelope Spheeris Movie Review

Wayne's World (1992)   4/54/54/54/54/5


Dana Carvey and Mike Myers in Wayne's World

Still Excellent

I first saw "Wayne's World" back in 1992 when I was still a teen and loved it, maybe not as much as "Bill & Ted" but it was certainly good. And the good news is that watching it now, 20 years later, it is still as good if not better. Now of course Mike Myers has gone on to do bigger things such as "Austin Powers" and the "Shrek" movies but in many ways "Wayne's World" is still his most entertaining movie, with its totally daft set pieces which even now strangely feel fresh and funny. Watching Wayne & Garth poke fun at everything and anyone whilst delivering in-joke after in-joke still brings a huge smile to your face and who can't love the now iconic "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene.

Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers - Mystery, Alaska) still lives at home at his parents, where through his various jobs has collected an impressive array of name tags and hairnets and with his best friend Garth Algar (Dana Carvey - Tough Guys) host a very popular public access TV show. When TV exec Benjamin Kane (Rob Lowe) learns about Wayne & Garth's popular show he persuades them to do the show for his network, but his plans for the show go against everything that Wayne and Garth stand for. At the same time Wayne meets and falls for rock singer Cassandra (Tia Carrere - Torn Apart) but Benjamin also seems intent on getting his hands on her as well.

Rob Lowe and Tia Carrere in Wayne's World

So like a surprising number of movies "Wayne's World" has its roots in a "Saturday Night Live" sketch but unlike many which get embellished into becoming full features "Wayne's World" is actually good and sustains a whole 90 minutes or in this case 94 minutes. The simple reason for this is that they create a slim storyline but one which is a suitable vehicle for what is really one sketch after another. As such the storyline is really unimportant as what you watch for is all the humour but at the same time it actually makes you want to follow what is going on. You enjoy the opening, the establishing what is basically Wayne & Garth's world and there public access show which builds nicely to not only Wayne getting a babe but also his dream of being paid to do his show and then taking on the evil Benjamin who is basically trying to screw him and his babe, not necessarily in that order.

But as I said whilst the storyline to "Wayne's World" is enough to work as a vehicle the real reason you watch is for the humour and what is a variety of jokes there are. There is the humour of Wayne & Garth's friendship, laying there on their car bonnet as a plane flies over and there is the humour of their wacky public access show. Then there is the humour of the way they mock people with the memorable "asphinctersayswhat" and the general way they act. But then there is more as they bring in other movies and TV shows with a fun mickey take of "Laverne & Shirley" as well as a brilliant joke surrounding "Terminator 2". And I could go on because this is a movie which is packed from start to finish with humour, some of which for the time was edgy in being crude, but more importantly all the humour is still funny and strangely seems so fresh even at times quite clever.

It is because the writing is so good that not only does "Wayne's World" still come across as fresh and funny but also memorable. As previously mentioned there is the iconic "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene which even now is one of the greatest comedy scenes of all time. But there are those minor moments from Wayne being denied playing "Stairway to Heaven" when he tries out a guitar to Garth giving us a new meaning to the word Foxy. And that is the other thing about "Wayne's World" it gave us so many phrases some more annoying than others but mostly funny.

But the greatest thing for me about "Wayne's World" is that Mike Myers is genuinely funny, well so are all the cast which includes Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere and Lara Flynn Boyle. But you watch Myers as Wayne and not only does he seem to be having fun but it all seems so natural, so spontaneous and fresh, as if jokes were being made up on the spot. And whilst there are times where you see Myers do something and can spot that he has used the same thing in his more recent movies much of it feels unique and different. It is because of Myers and in fairness his partnership with Dana Carvey that everything seems so funny.

What this all boils down to is that "Wayne's World" is not only as good as I remembered it when it came out but in some ways better. The fact it has dated in some ways adds to the laughs and so much of the humour still remains fresh and funny and some of the humour which you may have forgotten becomes a pleasant surprise.


LATEST REVIEWS