| REGISTERIT'S FREE! |
 |
 |
 |
RECEIVE custom news |
|
|
TRACK your favorites |
|
|
BUILD your fan profile |
|
|
POST messages |
|
| LOGIN | SIGN UP TODAY |
| THIS WEEK |
|
| ? |
Nothing Scheduled |
|
| MORE |
|
| Austin Powers in Goldmember |
  |
| How excited (or not) I am to see this movie... |
|
| Movie Review: |
|
 |
| My thoughts on this movie... |
|
There are some things you can count on in life: the phone bill always arrives on time, the Simpsons comes on at 5, and if you watch the previews and guage human interest, you know that by now the name "Austin Powers" will send teenagers scrambling to theaters as fast as you could say "Attack of the Clones."
Whiel I found the first two Austin Powers films to be an average attempt at comedy, none of the could really get me interested enough to fully appreciate the total crazed humor such as Mike Meyers drinking a stool sample from Fat B@$%@&*. This time, Meyers and director Jay Roach try to take some of their past gags and turn throw them in the blender while also adding a new Mike Meyers persona: Goldmember.
The plot should be simple enough: Austin Powers' arch-nemesis Dr Evil has returned, with another diabolical scheme to destroy the world (and by now we already know what his 'demands' are). This time, Dr. Evil has travelled back to 1975 to enlist a Dutch freak called Goldmember, to help him.
From all the previews we've seen, it looks like Meyers is trying to make this new character work, but for some strange reason, every joke tends to fall flat. (One that comes to mind is "would you like a smoke and a pancake?" I've been asking around and I can't tell if is an obscure term or some kind of sexual innuendo joke).
Goldmember spouts like a lisp-induced idiot, can contort his body like a member of Cirque de Soleil, doesn't mind peeling and saving his own skin.
While the new Meyers character seems to be a loser, the new female lead Foxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) is a welcome respite.
I didn't get much of a kick out of Heather Graham in "The Spy who Shagged Me," but Beyonce makes a female lead as sexy and likable as can be. Whether her hairs in a prominent afro or let down in a set of luxurious locks, she exudes a kind of feminine charm that Graham lacked.
Also joining the world of Austin Powers is his father Nigel, played by Michael Caine. While Caine has done some incredible former roles, this one didn't really gel for me. While we are supposed to try and sympathize with him as well as try to see him be a good father as well as deal with his own spy appetite for a shag.
And of course by now, no Austin Powers film would be complete without Dr. Evil's favorite companion: Mini-me. Verne Troyer returns for another go, and this time, his role expands on his previous efforts. He becomes much funnier, and he seemed to still be an audience favorite.
But even a cameo by Fred Savage as "The Mole" can't save the film from seemingly being a mediocre retread that would have been possibly better off as just a twinkle in the mind's eye.
The first 15 minutes are what most people will probably remember, a star-studded cameo extravaganza that includes stars from "Minority Report," "American Beauty," and even "Shakespeare in Love." Hopefully, those titles gave you some hints.
Austin Powers might have been more worthwhile, but in the end, it just comes off as rising a bit higher than "Men in Black II," so far one of the weaker July sequels so far. |
|
| Thoughts on the DVD release of this movie... |
|
| Was this review any good? Vote YES
or NO! | Edit (Author only) |
|
|
