Austin Powers In Goldmember (Austin Powers 3)

Image Source: Wikipedia

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Companies: Gratitude International, Team Todd and Moving Pictures
Director: Jay Roach
Producers: Jan Blenkin, John S. Lyons, Eric McLeod, Demi Moore and Mike Myers
Scriptwriters: Mike Myers and Michael McCullers
Main Cast: Mike Myers, Beyoncé Knowles, Seth Green, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling, Verne Troyer and Michael Caine
Released: July 26 2002
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Certificate: 12

And so we come to the third and final chapter of the Austin Powers trilogy! In 1997, the build-up suggested that Austin Powers would be popular but a bit of a niche film. In 1999, the sequel was more popular. By 2002, when Austin Powers 3 arrived, it had become one of the most anticipated films of the year, and the casting reflected this: Goldmember opens with a self-parody called Austinpussy (a take on the James Bond film Octopussy; other Bond homages are included in this film), and this scene features cameos by Steven Spielberg , Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito (we also get a cameo by John Travolta later on). We then come to the real opening scene, an elaborate musical montage that includes another celebrity cameo by Britney Spears.

We begin by learning that Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) plans to go back in time again, to 1975 this time, and to bring back Johan van der Smut a.k.a. Goldmember (Mike Myers in his fourth new character of the trilogy) to help him in a plot to pull a meteor into the Earth that will strike the polar ice caps and cause global flooding. However, his plan is quickly foiled by Austin Powers (Mike Myers again) and both Dr. Evil and Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) are arrested. For this act, Powers is knighted but, to his disappointment, he realises that his father Nigel Powers (Michael Caine) is not present. He soon learns that Nigel has been kidnapped.

The only man with the answers about Nigel's whereabouts is Dr. Evil, still imprisoned. After some humorous jail scenes involving Evil and Mini-Me, the evil Doctor informs Austin that Goldmember is behind the capture and explains where and when to travel back to for a rescue - but only if Evil and his miniature sidekick are released from prison, which Austin agrees to. We then go to 1975, and we realise that Nigel is very much of the same, flirtatious mould that Austin is, albeit a little older and ever-so-slightly wiser. We meet Goldmember, as well as one of his female sidekicks Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé Knowles). Long story short, Goldmember takes Nigel with him into the time machine and back to 2002, whilst Austin is left to be taken out by Goldmember's assailants. But Foxxy helps Austin escape and the two return to 2002 as well, where the plot takes shape and a trip to Tokyo, which includes a brief reappearance by Fat B-----d (yes, Mike Myers once again), provides details of what Dr. Evil and Goldmember have in mind, and also leads the two to finding and rescuing Nigel.

It seems like standard fare, then, as Powers and company look to quash Evil, but there are some changes. We realise that Austin and Nigel have some differences which could affect their chances of remaining on the same page. Meanwhile, Scott Evil has started living up to his surname and proving to be the son that Dr. Evil would finally appreciate, which not only sees their father-son bond strengthen, but also results in the Dr. Evil-Mini-Me relationship weaken, to the point where Mini-Me later joins Austin's side (and hilariously turn into a Mini-Austin). It all comes down to one final showdown between Powers and Evil, the culmination of years of assassination attempts, destructive plots and all manners of time travel, and act as the true end to the Austin Powers trilogy. But, wait: there's a twist. Not all is as it seems, and a stunning relevation changes everything. But there's still a resolution to be found; how will this twist affect the climax as well as the future?

As stated, this film had been anticipated for a while, much more than the previous two entries. For this reason, it had a higher standard to live up to, and I felt that it did. I actually enjoyed it more the second time than I did the first, just because aspects of the plot seemed to make more sense then. The humour is of the same vein as in the previous Powers films, although the sexual innuendo is slightly toned-down in this entry. The story is of greater prominence this time around, although that isn't to say that the comedy within the movie suffers; not at all. There are still plenty of funny moments, both verbally and visually, which range from Austin's impossible-to-ignore mentions of a mole on the face of his team's mole, Number 3 (Fred Savage), to some witty one-liners by Nigel Powers, to a ridiculous yet hilarious visual in Tokyo involving Austin, a fountain and - well, I won't spoil it here.

The new additions to the line-up hold up their roles well. Knowles does a good job as Foxxy, and Michael Caine does a tremendous job of not only applying himself fully to the role of Austin's father, but of actually out-shining his on-screen son at times. One would assume that the parent may be a distraction or a hindrance, but Nigel is a great character to join the fold. If anything, the only disappointing new character is actually Myers' newest creation, Goldmember: he has some funny lines, but overall he is nowhere near as funny as Mike's three other alter egos, and I found myself enjoying his scenes less than anyone else's in the movie.

As a whole, I thought it was a very good movie and a worthy addition to the series. That being said, I thought it was a step down from The Spy Who Sh---ed Me; a fair number of the jokes feel forced, either by recycling material and not being funnier this time around, or just not being as funny as the cast clearly want it to be. It would have been better to have abandoned this material and come up with something new in those scenes, as they did with the Austin character: sex is not really on his menu in this film besides the original scene where he first finds Nigel, and instead we get a new, family relationship with Nigel, and as stated his jokes are overall really funny. I also thought that the time travel aspect was unnecessary; having dealt with going forward in film one and going back in film two, it just felt like a rehashed concept in film three.

Rumours continue to circulate that there will be a fourth movie in the series. It has been nearly 13 years since Goldmember now, so I doubt it happening, and I actually hope it doesn't now. Myers wasn't exactly a young man when the trilogy began, but I think the character would feel too old now. If some material misfired in Goldmember, I can't see it working again in a new movie. Plus, without giving away the ending of the film under review here, the manner of its conclusion means that another film would feel odd; either some key plot developments would be ignored or we would lose some much-loved characters. And, besides, the Austin Powers character is essentially a 1960s swinger living in the modern age; the world has changed a lot since 2002, and with nearly a decade-and-a-half added to the time clock, how many younger people nowadays even know of what life was like back in the 1960s for some of the jokes to work?

So, I hope that Goldmember marked the end of the Austin Powers series and, if it did, it went out on a high. Despite my comments earlier, this is still a very funny movie and a satisfactory end to the trilogy. I just felt with watching this that it was the right time to bring the series to an end, and so whilst there would undoubtedly be a following and a tremndous amount of hype for a fourth movie, I hope that the Austin Powers tale culminated with this movie, Goldmember. If you want to see this film, I would suggest watching the previous two films first but, if you decide to just see this one, you will still enjoy it a lot.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent

Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Sh---ed Me

Image Source: Wikipedia

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Eric's Boy, Moving Pictures (uncredited), Team Todd and Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Jay Roach
Producers: Jan Blenkin, John S. Lyons, Eric McLeod, Demi Moore and Mike Myers
Scriptwriters: Mike Myers and Michael McCullers
Main Cast: Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, Mindy Sterling, Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Hurley, Kristen Johnston and Verne Troyer
Released: June 11 1999 (US) and July 30 1999 (UK)
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Certificate: 12

Just when you thought it was safe to get back into bed ...

The second part of the Austin Powers trilogy, The Spy Who Sh---ed Me (a take-off on the name of the James Bond flick The Spy Who Loved Me), picks up where the original left one, quite literally; we return to the location where Austin Powers (Mike Myers) and his new wife Vanessa (Liz Hurley) are together, only to discover that she is an evil fembot! Austin withstands an assault and is sad at the discovery, but then cheers up when he realises that he is single again, which opens the film.

It is now 1999, and Dr. Evil (Mike Myers again) returns to Earth in hilarious fashion, as a guest on The Jerry Springer Show (which was very popular back then) to discuss his awkward relationship with his son Scott (Seth Green). This is a brilliant scene, probably the funniest of the entire trilogy. We then learn that he has plans to return to 1969, whilst Austin was frozen, to steal his mojo and thus weaken Powers', erm, powers, but not before meeting his new sidekick, a little man who is one-eighth the size of Evil, Mini-Me (the role that made Verne Troyer famous).

Back in 1999, Powers meets one of Dr. Evil's assistants Ivana Humpalot (Kristen Johnston) at a photo shoot, but although Ivana is assigned to kill him, instead she finds him irresistable and they have sex. But disaster strikes: as part of Dr. Evil's, erm, evil plan, he employs a new associate of his, the hilariously-titled and humourously-large Fat B-----d (the third character played by Mike Myers in the continuation of a running joke), to visit the frozen Austin and remove his "mojo". With Powers weakened from a villain-tackling standpoint and a sexual standpoint due to this, there is no greater incentive for him to also go back in time and defeat Evil, who is planning to destroy the world from his new lair on space (he calls the whole plot "The Alan Parsons Project", which you may have heard of via the rock band).

In the 1960s, Austin meets a young lady who would become his new sidekick, Felicity Sh--well (Heather Graham; by the way, apologies for the dashes but, hey, this website is family-friendly). As the name suggests, she is nothing like Vanessa, and since this is Austin Powers we're talking about, there is instant connection, but Powers concedes that without his mojo, he simply can't bring himself to have sex with her, although he does find her to be beautiful (who wouldn't?).

In the meantime, Evil is treating Mini-Me more like a son than he does Scott, which causes friction, but he also gets closer with the 1969 Frau (who, unlike the retro No. 2 who is played by Rob Lowe, hasn't changed at all from the modern day). Fat B-----d is disgusting, but in a funny way. (Author's sidenote: Somehow, my old secondary school class managed to convince the teacher to let us watch this movie in class. The scene where Fat B-----d talks about "having a crap on deck that could choke a donkey" was the point where it was turned off; that lesson was great fun. Oh, I miss doing English). Never more so than when he is naked and Felicity has to sleep with him to insert a tracking device into the mammoth man, a fact that Austin later learns and is disappointed by (the opposite to his actions in the first movie).

Austin and Felicity track him to Evil's lair and soon all involved head to space for the climatic, daft but funny conclusion. During the credits are extra scenes with the odd revelation, so keep watching once the main feature ends.

Throughout the movie are a ton of jokes, many quite rude or gross (there are two different montages of quips about penis references), but overall they are very, very funny. There are scenes which are funny for other reasons, including the ridiculous yet amusing performance of "Just The Two Of Us" by Dr. Evil and Mini-Me. And knowing that a third movie is on the horizon, the ending is satisfying enough.

To me, this film was the peak of the Austin Powers saga. The jokes are better than in the original and the new characters are great additions, and the material is fresher than in the third movie. You do have to be into a certain type of humour to enjoy it (or, to put it another way, if you're not into a certain type of humour, you won't enjoy it), but assuming that you're on board and you "get" the jokes and scenarios, you will love this movie. As stated, there is one more film in the trilogy which I will review next week, and that one is also great, but if you only plan to watch one Austin Powers movie, make it The Spy Who Sh----d Me.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 - Classic

Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery

Image Source: Wikipedia

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Companies: Capella International, Eric's Boy, Juno Pix (uncredited), KC Medien, Moving Pictures (uncredited), New Line Cinema and Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Jay Roach
Producers: Jan Blenkin, Eric McLeod, Demi Moore, Mike Myers, Claire Rudnick Polstein
Scriptwriter: Mike Myers
Main Cast: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Mimi Rogers, Robert Wagner and Seth Green
Released: May 2 1997(US) and September 5 1997 (UK)
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Certificate: 15

In 1997, Mike Myers, star of the Wayne's World films, introduced the world to his newest movie trilogy. This one was a spoof on the hugely successful James Bond franchise as well as other films, except that the hero here, Austin Powers, hammed up his British roots (Myers pulls off the role very well; although a Canadian, he has British connections via his parents) to become a sixties swinger as opposed to the perfect gentlemen that Bond was and remains. Plus, whilst Bond had an appetite for women which was more a charm as part of his character, in Austin Powers a desire to have sex IS the character: although his primary focus is to prevent terrible things happening, his obsession with females often threatens to steer him off-course.

This first movie of what would become a three-parter begins with Powers having fun one night in his nightclub, surrounded by many beautiful women (who hilariously know exactly who he is, despite him supposedly being a secret agent), as well as his assistant Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers), only to be subject to an attempted assassination by Dr. Evil (also played by Myers, a running joke that is never acknowledged throughout the series). Powers avoids this fate by punching the villain's assailant (a woman who turns out to be "a man, man!"), but Dr. Evil gets away in a space rocket disguised as a Big Boy statue, which cryogenically freezes him for 30 years.

We then jump to 1997, where Basil Exposition (Michael York) reveals that Powers froze himself in response to Evil's actions, and with reports that the Doctor is back on Earth with plans for world domination and/or destruction, it is time to release Austin in an attempt to stop the diabolical plot. The scenes where Powers comes back around are funny, as are the items he left behind. We also meet Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), daughter of Austin's old partner who is Powers' new sidekick. Unlike her mother, though, she has no desire to sleep with Austin, insisting she is work-focused and that times have changed since the 1960s when casual sex was the norm.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Dr. Evil's team of scallywags, including his number 2 man ("His name ... Number 2"), played by Robert Wagner, and Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling). Other evil members of the squad include Patty O'Brien, played by Paul Dillon; Mustafa, played by Will Ferrell; Random Task, a deliberate parody of Odd Job played by Joe Son; and Alotta Fagina (as in, "a lot of vagina" ... get it?), played by Fabiana Udenio. Evil is also surprised to learn that he had a son created in a lab during his time in exile, Scott Evil (Seth Green). Seeing a relatively normal young man trying to win the love of his dangerously evil father is very amusing, especially later in a scene where they attend a therapy session and Evil freely admits that he wants Scott killed, and reveals daft parts of his background: "My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanise, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy."

Still, while the developing relationships on both sides are of importance, the primary plot is about Evil's desire to hold the world ransom for money, despite Number 2 having made his empire a multi-billion dollar enterprise called Virtucon while he was frozen, which then becomes an attempt to get more money by stealing nuclear weapons after Evil learns that his ideas had already been done, and his behind-the-times approach surfaces again when he initially suggests a ransom fee of 1 million dollars; under advice, this becomes one hundred billion dollars.

Powers bumps into Evil's associates at a casino, leading to a humorous assassination attempt scene. But as Powers and Vanessa uncover the Project Vulcan which Evil has in mind, the two become smitten, yet Austin feels that it isn't right for them to have sex. Which makes it funnier when he does later sleep with Alotta Fagina with his justification being that he had to do this to get the required information about the project.

Eventually, Austin and Vanessa are captured by Evil, as he closes in on the time where he will proceed with his dastardly plot even if he receives the money. The two are trapped, but even if they find a way out, can they stop Dr. Evil before it is too late? Will Austin's sexual temptations prevent the duo from staying on the same path? And is everyone really on the same page on Dr. Evil's team? Plus, if they do survive, what will become of Austin and Vanessa's relationship?

There are many comedic elements, many of which parody the stereotypical aspects of super-sleuth films of the past, such as the apparently dangerous yet not completely threatening devices (Dr. Evil puts Austin and Vanessa in "the unnecessarily slow-moving mechanism"), the lack of importance given to minor characters (a deceased henchman's wife wonders aloud why nobody ever considers them), deliberately bad production (an extended laugh by the evil crew, a threat to world leaders being interrupted by a clip from Beavis & Butthead) and other moments of mirth. And we haven't even mentioned Evil's cat Mr. Bigglesworth!

This is a great comedy film; it is a little slow to progress at times, and it looks very old-fashioned when watching it now despite it only being released in 1997 (and I mean the 1990s-era scenes, not just those from the 1960s), but it is a very funny movie with a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. It helps to be someone not embarrassed by sexual innuendo as there is a ton of that here; but even if it isn't your thing, you should find a wealth of enjoyment from the movie spoof elements, the silly dialogue between Dr. Evil and his team, and the one-liners which are repeated to this day by die-hard fans of the trilogy. Myers, in particular, deserves great praise for perfectly playing two very opposite yet equally funny characters (some would say that Evil is the funnier of the two), and for writing the screenplay as well.

As this is part one of the series, you might guess that this is the peak with the subsequent two films being slightly disappointing add-ons. But you'd be wrong: movies two and three (which I will cover in future reviews) are both very funny and, if anything, this is probably the least amusing of the three parts. Don't let that put you off seeing this film though: Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery is a comedy treat from which you will take a great helping of entertainment.

Overall Rating: 8.5/10 - Excellent