AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER

By: Abbie Bernstein
Review Date: Friday, July 26, 2002

The trouble with AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER is not so much that its makers director Jay Roach, star/co-writer Mike Myers and co-writer Michael McCullers have run out of ideas. They are still capable of coming up with good gags, which surface now and again throughout the film. One problem here is that the creative team doesn't seem to care exactly how their jokes fit together and have no shame about vamping for extended periods until they reach their next punchline. The other problem which may not bother those who are into this particular style of humor is that an extremely high percentage of the jokes involve urine and/or excrement.

The opening of AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER is amusing in a MAD MAGAZINE parody way, cramming in a mass of good-sport, high-profile guest cameos before getting on with the plot, such as it is. English superspy and celebrity Austin Powers (Myers, reprising the role for the third time) defeats his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil (also Myers, also for the third time) yet again in the first act, but alas, Austin has parental issues. It seems his father, ultra-superspy Nigel Powers (Michael Caine, giving it his debonair all), has ignored Austin and his accomplishments for most of the lad's life. Now Nigel has been kidnapped by the dastardly Goldmember (Myers once more, taking on a new role), who teams up with Dr. Evil to plan world domination/destruction, and Austin must seek both his dad's physical whereabouts and his fatherly approval.




GOLDMEMBER is fitfully funny. There is a semblance of thematic resonance if only in parody form with Austin's family squabbles paralleled in Dr. Evil's attitude toward the sibling rivalry between Dr. Evil's son Scott (Seth Green) and tiny clone Mini-Me (Verne Troyer). There are also a few delicious, Pythonian off-the-wall surprises. However, the Bond references don't feel quite as enthusiastic this time around, while the Beatlemania/British Invasion riffs that launched AUSTIN are at a minimum. In their place are some '70s retro gags Austin travels to 1975 mid-movie to try to rescue Nigel which are hit and miss. Parodies of specific other movies work with varying degrees of success the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE spoof is right on, but a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS routine feels like a sketch included out of obligation rather than inspiration. Then there's all of the scatology, which may strike even devotees as overkill. The film's biggest flaw, though, is arguably pacing. GOLDMEMBER doesn't seem to know how to move gracefully from one moment to the next a lot of scenes drift in, go for a laugh and then, even when on target, meander on awhile longer.

Myers demonstrates that his gift for immersing himself in diverse personas is intact Austin, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and a second turn as the large Scottish assassin Fat Bastard are all utterly distinct and played to the hilt. Beyonce Knowles is charming as the feisty Foxxy Cleopatra, a babe in the Pam Grier mold, and the rest of the supporting cast (including the mega-name guest team) is as game and adroit as can be.

It would be both unfair and untrue to say that all of GOLDMEMBER is dross. There are a few bits of genuine treasure here, but they're surrounded by a lot of lead.

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