Austin Powers in Goldmember


Starring Mike Myers, Beyonce Knowles, Verne Troyer, Michael Caine, Robert Wagner, Michael York, Seth Green, Fred Savage. Directed by Jay Roach.

I saw this film while vacationing in Saint John, New Brunswick, and it was a welcome diversion. The Austin Powers series is not high comedy, nor is it biting satire. It is a spoof, and it happily wallows in slapstick, innuendo and crude humour, just like it's two predecessors. It's success lies in its inventive opening sequences, sometimes creative ideas, sense of fun and the talents of Mike Myers, who plays four characters in this film, two of which, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard, are consistently funny. It is filled with a ton of cameos, including Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Steven Spielberg and fembot Britney Spears in the excellent opening sequence. The character of Austin Powers has never impressed me a whole lot - he's funny once in a while and only in moderation, such as during the physical he is required to undertake. The fourth and new character, Goldmember, is a really useless character - I never came close to laughing at anything he said or did. I might chalk that up to the greedy James Bond executives who tried jerking Myers around over the use of the name "Goldmember" during filming, forcing Myers into several rewrites. Or maybe the character was weak all along. Mini-Me is as funny as ever, still not being allowed to speak, but having a larger role in the plot and on screen. And I had to cringe on Seth Green's behalf for the lines and actions Scott Evil is forced to do. So in summary there is lots of good and bad news in this film.

Austin Powers in Goldmember is more of the same Austin Powers. If you liked the first two, you're bound to like this one, and if you didn't like the first two, don't bother seeing the third. While this film does recycle some of the jokes from the past, it has enough new ideas and genuinely funny (if crude) moments to please the Austin Powers fan.




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