Austin Powers in Goldmember (***)
review by Jon Waterman

This is where I lose my credibility among the other filmbrats.  I liked this movie.  There, I said it.  I liked the first one.  I liked the second one.  I liked the third one.

I went in to the theater expecting to hate the film and I think that because I didn’t, I ended up really liking this movie.  There, I said it.

About the plot…Austin Powers (played by Mike Myers) has to travel through time, again, and stop Dr. Evil, again (Myers, again), and save his father (played by Michael Caine) from a new villain, Goldmember (Myers, again), with the help of his new interest, Foxxy Cleopatra (played by singer Beyonce Knowles).

Now, something to keep in mind when watching Goldmember:  It is a comedy sequel.  There are going to be repeated situations and rehashed bits.  However, you must consider who’s writing the regurgitated material – Mike Myers and Michael McCullers (who helped write the second one and wrote the funny Undercover Brother).  Mike Myers has made a reputation for himself as a perfectionist, and I think that comes through in this film…most of the time.  So, yeah, you know that Scott is going to be stifled by his father, Dr. Evil.  You know there’ll be some playing around with shadows.  You know there’ll be musical numbers, but what you might not know is that it’ll still be funny.  Also, Myers doesn’t just rely on the old devises for laughs.  There will always be new characters with their own quirks and characteristics to be exploited.  I think that is something that’s missing from most comedies.

I must admit, a lot of the jokes fell very, very flat.  And, this time around some of them were set up so far in advance that if you didn’t see it coming, then you should be smacked.  So, the whole film isn’t a winner, and it probably is the worst of the three, but it’s still better than a lot of the comedies I’ve seen.

One of the things that makes the film so fun to watch is Myers.  It’s probably pretty safe to call him this generations’ Peter Sellers.  If he makes a fourth one, which honestly shouldn’t happen, I think he should try just playing all the new characters.  Bring back the old standbys, but anyone new should be him.  Why not, right?  Come on, Mike…are you chicken?  The reason I say this is because in the past two movies, all the bit parts have been played by professional comedians who can improvise if needed.  This time, there were a lot more standard actors filling those roles and I think the jokes suffered because of it.

My only other major complaints are with the celebrity cameos, the dance sequence, and with no Heather Graham.  Heather was Austin’s love interest in the second one, and for some reason, she’s not mentioned at all.  It’s as if the last movie never happened.  That was odd.  As for the celebrities…yeah, the other two had a lot of cameos, but they were lower profile.  The opening I have no problem with at all in terms of cameos.  But if Nathan Lane and Britney Spears really wanted to be in the movie, I wish they would have taken a back seat.  Anyways.  Lastly, the opening dance number that accompanies the credits was boring.  I remember when jokes were put into that.  It was pure dance this time and I didn’t like it.

So, there you have it.  A good review for Austin Powers 3.  At least I know I can’t be fired for voicing my opinion.

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