Austin Powers: Goldmember | Review

Unoriginal number 3 is recycled material from the previous two.

Famous for coining many terms that we here today-the wacky-totally off-the-wall comedian Mike Myers (Shrek) is at it again with his creation – the adventures of the British agent with plenty of ‘Mojo’. A new adventure means a new nemesis in the shape no not the typical Russian or Arab spy but this time in the shape of an inoffensive Dutch villain from the disco era. Make that a total of three-the suits in which Myers must adorn for his spy spoof that features a new shag partner-a blax-ploitation of a Pam Grier-like Foxy Cleopatra-Beyoncé Knowles (The Fighting Temptations) and his never-present father Michael Caine (Quills) who happens to be a brilliant casting choice. The rest of the film includes the cast of familiar freaks and geeks that belong to the Powers crew and the Dr.Evil gang and don’t forget the presence of a mole.

The full-out action intro sequence is probably the best that this film has to offer because everything that follows is awfully disappointing- the slew of cameos can’ t muster enough energy or diversion to make it the slightest bit more interesting. Director Jay Roach and Myers had the perfect idea back in 1997 with the first installment-basically making fun of the Bond films of before- and what made that first film such a blast and hit for most was fun things like taking a long piss, or a villain with a naughty name or a kung fu fight that seems more than highly unlikely to ever occur.

Don’t get me wrong, it is not as if you won’t get a couple of laughs out of the film- but instead I was asking myself how could they have made it more interesting, more funnier? Apparently, the “don’t fix it if it ain’t broke” ideology remains, which is a shame because when the regular Austin Powers formula of sexual innuendos, puns and pi and ca jokes go flat then it becomes a film about when the next good joke will come- which in this case is far and few in between. There are a couple of scenes that will make you laugh (the fountain statue) and of course anything to do with Mini-Me (I love Midgets) and the part that really sucks is the fact that the bad guys are soft and the good guys are boring. With all of his talent it is time to move onto different projects-and thankfully we’ll get to see him in interesting roles such as The Cat in the Hat and quite possibly in his SNL Dieter role. You can count on an Austin part 4, I think it is not impossible to come back with another joke-a-thon-but in the case of Goldmember this one has simply lost it’s mojo.

Rating 1.5 stars