Austin Powers in Goldmember

Pros: 1. Mike Myers (Austin Powers/ Dr. Evil/ Fat Bastard/ Goldmember) and Michael Caine (Nigel Powers) deliver great comedic performances, and are utterly hilarious as a duo.

2. There are plenty of Austin Powers wacky funny moments, for example, the running mole gag.

3. The fun and iconic Austin Powers theme tune, which never fails to bring a smile to my face, even had its own dance sequence featuring surprise cameos by Steven Spielberg (Famous Director) and Britney Spears ('Boys' Music Video Performer).

Cons: 1. Mike Myers, whether intentional or not, puts on a distractingly bad Dutch accent for Goldmember.

2. The character of Fat Bastard is just as annoying and pointless as before. The whole gimmick is that he's really fat - that's it.

3. As in the previous film, there are so many jokes that they end up diluting what should be contentious and serious moments.

4. The special effects are really dated, as in the second film.

5. The complete character 180s undertaken by Dr. Evil and Mini-Me (Verne Troyer) don't feel earned or genuine. They decide to turn their backs on their criminality in one scene each after confronted with the truth, or with rejection.

6. The constant celebrity cameos break the immersion as they're just distracting and nothing else. For example, the scene with the Osbourne family lamenting about the recycling of a joke from the previous film.

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.

Although it's definitely not the best Austin Powers film, Goldmember is still a good little film to watch when there's nothing else on. There's still a chuckle to be had with a wonderful cast with Mike Myers reprising his role (well, roles) as Austin Powers and Michael Cain as Austin's father was a good choice. Despite being more in the 70s than the last two even though Austin is clearly a 60's stereotype, it's a good film to pass the time with a couple of laughs.

While this is still not as funny as the first one, it's still worth watching. It has a load of recycled jokes from both of the earlier films, and a little too many references to the first, in my opinion. It's not entirely bad though, after a slow start it kicks off and gets very funny, very quickly. Most of the old characters return, with a few new ones too. The plot is pretty much the same old deal from the first two, still spoofing old Bond movies. The acting is still pretty good. The characters are more colorful in this one, I think. More developed, perhaps. The sexual crude humor is still there, and is better here than in the second movie, I think. The first is still the best, but if you only see one of the sequels, I recommend you see this one. I thought the twist-in-the-end was pretty lame, but it didn't entirely ruin the movie, as it didn't seem totally out of character or totally unbelievable. I'd recommend this to anyone who liked either or both of the first two movies. The humor is mostly the same, and people who enjoyed the first two will most likely also enjoy this one. 7/10

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.