Austin Powers contre l'homme au membre d'or

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

That no one but Mike Meyers could pull off the role of Austin Powers is made amusingly clear in the opening scene, which must be seen to be appreciated. To those who have cringed through one or more of the James Bond films, finding them obnoxiously sexist, chauvinistic and crass, the Powers films are deliciously over-the-top burlesques of that genre, even if some of the gags are relentlessly sophomoric. Scatological humor is pervasive, especially of the soiled underwear, urinating and farting variety. In one of the latter the character adds the comment, "Even stink would say that stinks," and in another case, focusing on a bare behind, we get the tired old yawn, "I always thought you were crazy but now I can see your nuts." Note that is "your" and not "you're," and juvenile puns of that form do tend to blemish the script at times. Even so, most of the pranks are original, and it's a mindlessly fun film to watch. Meyers is a comedic wizard, and he is supported at every turn by an outstanding cast.

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.

`Austin Powers in Goldmember' provides us with an hour and a half of inspired silliness. Not all of the film's elements work equally well, of course – a seemingly common occurrence in even the best of comedies – but this third in the series of popular spy spoofs generates more laughs than almost any other movie released in 2002.

Prime credit goes, of course, to Mike Myers, who both co-wrote the screenplay and inhabits no fewer than four of the movie's main characters. By this time, Myers has become so adept at his characterizations that watching him at work and at play here provides one of the prime pleasures of our viewing experience. Also in attendance are the usual suspects: Verne Troyer as Mini-Me, Michael York as Basil, Robert Wagner as Number 2, Seth Green as Scottie and Mindy Sterling as Frau Farbissinia. Folks added to the brew this time around include Fred Savage, Michael Caine and Beyonce Knowles as Foxxy Cleopatra, a bad-ass soul sister brought back from 1975 – Afro hairdo and all - to help Austin rescue his kidnapped father and prevent Dr. Evil from yet again trying to destroy the world (this time by using a giant meteorite to melt the polar ice caps and flood the earth).

Co-written by Michael McCullers and directed by Jay Roach, the film has the good sense to throw caution to the wind and give Myers free rein to indulge himself in his own brand of inspired lunacy. The film starts off with a deliriously clever and funny opening credit scene in which many of Hollywood's biggest names make surprise, good-natured cameo appearances. That sense of unbridled fun carries through pretty much the entire film, although there are, as to be expected, ideas, bits and jokes that seem less effective than others. As with the two previous films, this `Austin Powers' suffers from the unfortunate tendency to both repeat and explain too many of its jokes. Sometimes you do find yourself wishing that the writers would put a bit more faith in the audience to get the humor the first time around. Still, there seems to be much less of that in this particular episode, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to more than compensate for the occasional – though not all that frequent – clunker or lull that manages to sneak its way in there from time to time.

`Austin Powers in Goldmember' wallows a bit overmuch in the sordid moments, the gross-out gags, the locker room and bathroom humor that have become, alas, the hallmarks of the modern comedy. In short, this is probably not the film to take the family to see if your family includes impressionable children and/or easily offended adults. The sexual and scatological meters run into the red zone rather often in this film.

Nevertheless, `Austin Powers in Goldmember' works well if you enjoy a comedy where the actors seem for once to have been actually having a fun time while making it. Their infectious joy spills off the screen in a way that it doesn't in movies like `Mr. Deeds,' `Men in Black II' or, perish the thought, `The Master of Disguise,' to name just a few of the comedic bombs that have been foisted upon the unsuspecting public this summer. In contrast to the makers of those films, Mike Myers knows how to deliver the goods and, in the process, give his fans their hard-earned money's worth. Reserve us a seat for the next installment.

While the first two Austin Powers films in this comedic series concentrated on spoofing the late '60s/early '70s, James Bond movies and concentrated on female anatomy in the process, this one was centered on penises. I kid you not. (Hence, the title, a play-on-words from "Goldfinger.")

I watched this film twice, within two weeks of each as I showed a friend the second time. The first time I thought it wasn't as funny overall as the other two Powers films and was a bit too raunchy, especially for the PG-13 rating which is ridiculous. After the second viewing, I changed my mind about the comedy (not the rating): it is just as funny if not more than the other two.

A couple of the scenes were hilarious, although very crude in spots but some of the crudeness is what makes it funny. However, most of time I laughed more at the many subtle double entendres and all the double takes by Mike Myers, who plays at least four characters in here...all of them very well.

It's goofy, stupid and nothing spectacular but definitely fast-moving and entertaining. If you've seen the other Austin Powers films, you know what this basically is going to be, humor-wise.

Beyonce Knowles, who played the female lead, didn't have the beauty or body of Heather Graham or Elizabeth Hurley, stars of the other two films, but she isn't bad. There are numerous cameo appearances in here, starting right off the bat with Tom Cruise.

Overall: sick (again) but funny (again.)