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Is Goldmember worth its wait?
[Photo: New Line Cinema ]
Mike Myers is his usual randy self in Austin Powers in Goldmember, more of the same from the franchise that spoofs James Bond and, now, itself. |
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 25, 2002
For Austin Powers fans, probably yes. Rude, crude and sometimes hilarious, the film relies on the same gags as its two predecessors ... maybe too much this time.
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The opening sequence of Austin Powers in Goldmember is worth the price of admission, so don't be late to the theater. Then zip it and don't tell anyone what -- or who -- happens. All we'll say is that it's a terrific way to jumpstart the mojo of a movie franchise's third go-around.
This is the time of the film-series cycle when ideas usually run out and sameness sets in. The third Austin Powers adventure isn't any different. Pick a favorite gag from the first two movies and it'll be echoed in some fashion, from extended urination to Dr. Evil rapping with Mini Me, to bawdy, misinterpreted silhouettes. Celebrity cameos are so plentiful that Burt Bacharach's obligatory appearance gets shoved to the end credits. That noted film critic Ozzy Osbourne shows up midway to mumble what we're thinking: It's the same old jokes.
If you're a sucker like me for Austin Powers' shagadelic routine, however, Goldmember is an occasionally hilarious encore. That hush-hush beginning sets a standard for surprise and laughter that the rest of the movie never quite matches, settling instead for a greatest-hits package of past riffs. Spoofing James Bond was the reason for the original Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Now the franchise is spoofing itself.
Not that Austin's creator Mike Myers is coasting. This is a tirelessly entertaining film, largely because of the gusto he invests into four roles: Austin, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard from the preceding films, and this one's title villain, the Euro-trash roller-boogie man, Goldmember. The latter is this movie's weakest link, goodbye. Aside from a few groans for his Dutch accent, peeling skin and crotch bulge, Goldmember is just an extra makeup job because Myers generously believes we deserve one.
Verne Troyer returns as Mini Me, Dr. Evil’s sidekick. In this film he’s bigger than ever and almost overused.
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Just like he noticed how Mini Me (Verne Troyer) stole his scenes in The Spy Who Shagged Me, so the diminutive character nearly gets overused here. Everything is bigger in Goldmember, even its smallest actor. But with that slickness comes a reduced sense of anarchy. The first time was just for fits (or something sounding like that) and giggles. Now it's merely market-tested smirks and leers.
The plot is another world-domination scheme taking the action from Tokyo to the moon and points in between. Austin's father, the famed spy Nigel Powers (Michael Caine), has been kidnapped. Austin time-trips between the present day and 1975, where he partners with detective Foxxy Cleopatra (Destiny's Child singer Beyonce Knowles), a sultry flashback to Pam Grier's blaxploitation heyday. Don't get too concerned with details. Myers and director Jay Roach aren't.
Everyone is game for anything, so even the underwritten scenes maintain a mischievous tone. Some jokes fall flat, like the running gag about an oversized mole on an intelligence mole (Fred Savage) and anything with Goldmember, but the laughter-to-silence ratio is still pretty high. When things run dry, Roach trots out another celebrity or tosses in a reference to another movie. Myers and co-writer Michael McCullers still haven't scripted anything as poignantly funny as Austin's climactic face-off with Dr. Evil in the first chapter, when he realized how out of place his randy attitude is today.
One wonders if Austin has a fourth adventure in his future. Certainly the cliffhanger hint at the end of Goldmember isn't a promising notion. Even while we're laughing out loud at the smutty one-liners and catchy cameos, a nagging thought keeps popping up: Even mojo has an expiration date.
Austin Powers in Goldmember
- Grade: B-
- Director: Jay Roach
- Cast: Mike Myers, Beyonce Knowles, Michael Caine, Verne Troyer, Michael York, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, Mindy Sterling, Fred Savage
- Screenplay: Mike Myers, Michael McCullers
- Rating: PG-13; sexual situations, profanity, crude humor
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