Austin Powers in Goldständer

The first Austin Powers film was so fresh, zany, charming, witty and unique. It took some time for many people to catch on (hence it's legendary video rental record), but it was dazzlingly, mesmerizingly adorable. The sequel came out and rather tarnished the prior film by either dumping or revising various story elements and especially by taking a turn towards the crude and vulgar. Still, it had it's share of interesting moments and laughs. In this third installment, the goodwill is almost completely gone. What remains is a hopelessly indulgent, often foul and unfunny conglomeration of "jokes" and gags, many based on bodily functions or other off-key subjects. That is not to say that the film doesn't still deliver quite a few laughs. It's just that by now, the whole enterprise seems very worn and familiar. There are several truly funny sequences in the film, but mostly it is saved only by some surprising and "right on" star cameos and the fresh appeal of Knowles. The (typically) ludicrous plot kicks off with Powers having to rescue his father (Caine) from the title character by travelling (too briefly) to 1975. Then the whole parade of series characters is involved in either starting or stopping the world's total destruction. Myers is undeniably brilliant at creating various characters and giving them each a voice of his own. He succeeds in creating these people who seem real unto themselves. Unfortunately, he also is bent on catering to what has to be a 13-year-old boy target audience with endless, endless potty jokes and gross out gags. Some of them are very amusing. Some of them are just gross. After a short while it becomes overkill. Knowles (who is certainly no "actress") comes across as very attractive and surprisingly charismatic on film. Her character is mostly decorative, but she serves the purpose very, VERY well. Her take-no-prisoners attitude is refreshing, even if she is continuously shown being kicked in the face. By now, Myers is so much the whole show that previous supporting cast members (Sterling, Green, Wagner, York) can barely get a word in. Who knows how much of their stuff was cut in the hour-plus of leftover material, but certainly plenty of Myers was left in. It's hard to imagine the lengthier cut because this one seems interminable, even with the bright spots. The opening sequence is brilliant. The character named Dixie......hilarious full name. Other creative and funny bits occur throughout, but the film can not escape it's pall of crudeness and alienating self-indulgence.

A great end to the trilogy, goldmember has the laughs and has some great moments. The storyline is bogus, but it doesn't matter, there are so many iconic scenes that it makes up for everything else.

Although it's definitely not the best Austin Powers film, Goldmember is still a good little film to watch when there's nothing else on. There's still a chuckle to be had with a wonderful cast with Mike Myers reprising his role (well, roles) as Austin Powers and Michael Cain as Austin's father was a good choice. Despite being more in the 70s than the last two even though Austin is clearly a 60's stereotype, it's a good film to pass the time with a couple of laughs.

After thoroughly enjoying the first two Austin Powers movies, they were daft but enormous fun, I watched this third instalment. I was disappointed admittedly, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The plot takes the whole meaning of daftness to a whole level, so some of it verges on ridiculous, and while Mike Myers is brilliant as Austin and Dr Evil, he overdoes it as the Dutch villain Goldmember and the cameos are very hit and miss. That said, the sets and costumes are still wonderful, the soundtrack is groovy and the script is comedy gold with the cool catchphrases, bad-taste buffoonery and surreal slapstick. In terms of supporting performances Beyonce Knowles is a knockout as sexy and sassy Foxxy Cleopatra and Michael Caine is a dentally-challenged delight as Austin's dad. Seth Green is also fun as Scott Evil. Overall, an inferior sequel, but it was still a lot of fun, with Myers still having his mojo. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Pros: 1. Mike Myers (Austin Powers/ Dr. Evil/ Fat Bastard/ Goldmember) and Michael Caine (Nigel Powers) deliver great comedic performances, and are utterly hilarious as a duo.

2. There are plenty of Austin Powers wacky funny moments, for example, the running mole gag.

3. The fun and iconic Austin Powers theme tune, which never fails to bring a smile to my face, even had its own dance sequence featuring surprise cameos by Steven Spielberg (Famous Director) and Britney Spears ('Boys' Music Video Performer).

Cons: 1. Mike Myers, whether intentional or not, puts on a distractingly bad Dutch accent for Goldmember.

2. The character of Fat Bastard is just as annoying and pointless as before. The whole gimmick is that he's really fat - that's it.

3. As in the previous film, there are so many jokes that they end up diluting what should be contentious and serious moments.

4. The special effects are really dated, as in the second film.

5. The complete character 180s undertaken by Dr. Evil and Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) don't feel earned or genuine. They decide to turn their backs on their criminality in one scene each after confronted with the truth, or with rejection.

6. The constant celebrity cameos break the immersion as they're just distracting and nothing else. For example, the scene with the Osbourne family lamenting about the recycling of a joke from the previous film.