| Goldmember is the third instalment in Mike Myer's excellent and incredibly successful Austin Powers series. He doesn't disappoint, in fact I'd say this movie is better than The Spy Who Shagged Me. Being a bit of a die-hard fan of the James Bond movies, I love the original Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery. It's a superbly crafted pastiche of 1960s 007. The sequel was a little more hit and miss, but still good. This time around Doctor Evil (Myers) is back, but captured by Austin Powers (Myers) in the first act, only to team with gold-obsessed Dutch 70s villain Goldmember (Myers). They're diabolical scheme is to use a "Tractor Beam" to draw a gold meteorite into the Earth. Austin teams up with 70s blaxploitation FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) and his own father, England's greatest spy Nigel Powers (Michael Caine). From the amazing celebrity-packed opening sequence and the now-traditional dancing to Soul Bossa Nova through the credits this is an hilarious movie. The introduction of a new villain in Goldfinger-spoof Goldmember is funny, but cannot compete with the massive cult appeal of familiar characters Austin Powers himself and especially not Doctor Evil, a comic creation of pure genius. Much more successful is Michael Caine as aging sex-mad Nigel Powers. By constantly striking out in new directions comedy genius Myers keeps this franchise fresh, while retaining the popular running jokes of the previous movies. His gags are refreshingly original, spoofing the craze of Matrix-style wire fights in much lesser films like Scary Movie. And he resists the obvious cheap laughs by humiliating the Queen a la Naked Gun and Ali G In Da House. As long as the franchise continues to be this inventive there seems to be plenty of life in it yet. 9/10. |
| GOLDMEMBER Director: Jay Loach Producers: John Stafford Lyons & Eric McLeod Screenplay: Mike Myers & Michael McCullers |
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