Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Mike Myers is literally everywhere in his third romp as the super suave (and super dated) gentleman spy, playing four significant parts under hefty amounts of makeup and gear. He's still surprisingly funny, as is the film itself, although the screen often feels terribly crowded and the constant diversions and subplots get carried away. Much more than the two preceding films, Goldmember is a Python-esque collage, a string of skits and strung-out gags with a loose connecting narrative wound in-between. It's joyfully energetic, like a toddler, with an attention span to match. The goofs and send-ups themselves range from hilarious to beaten-to-death (particularly the dumb obsession with one character's absurdly huge mole, which is trotted out in at least three different scenes) and occasionally lean on a weirdly hyper-focused topical humor that's showing its age now. Many of the old bits from preceding films are rolled back out for an encore, but they're matched at least shot-for-shot with new segments that, surprisingly, hold their own. It's particularly important that the jokes land, because the plot is mostly scraps and stabs. Michael Caine is an inspired choice as Austin's long-lost father, but the two don't get much screen time together and it feels like a wasted opportunity. Beyoncé's take on the classic blaxploitation-era heroine type is spirited, if light and inessential. Despite the shortcomings, it's still good for a few big laughs and my wife and I reference it somewhat regularly. I prefer it to The Spy Who Shagged Me, though it can't hope to match the heart, balance or ingenuity of the original.

Goldmember, the third film in the Austin Powers trilogy, is another hugely satisfying helping of abject silliness guaranteed to please fans of the previous two movies. The film opens in grand style with a star-studded, action-packed sequence in which Tom Cruise plays Austin Powers in AustinPussy, a Spielberg movie based on the exploits of England's most swingingest spy. Gwyneth Paltrow is Cruise's sexy sidekick, Dixie Normous, Kevin Spacey is Dr. Evil (no comment) and Danny De Vito plays Mini Me. This is all followed by a groovy musical routine that sees the real Austin Powers (Mike Myers) in a dance off with Britney Spears.After this superb introduction, we follow Austin as he travels back to 1975 to search for his father Nigel (Michael Caine), who has been kidnapped by Dutch criminal Goldmember (Myers again), who is working with Dr. Evil (Myers again again) on a plan to hold the world to ransom. While in the '70s, Austin teams up with the aptly named Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé, who looks amazing, all cleavage and curves), who accompanies Austin to the year 2002, where they encounter Fat Bastard (Myers again again again), and team up with Mini Me (who has defected to the good side) to foil the villains' dastardly scheme.The film is packed to the brim with gags (there's no 'downtime'), most of which are extremely puerile but also hilarious, making the Austin Powers series as a whole one of the most consistently funny cinematic comedy franchises I can think of. I challenge anyone to keep a straight face as Powers hides behind a statue of a peeing cherub, gets distracted by Number Three's huge mole, is covered in sumo wrestlers' 'mawashis' (the belt that goes up their ass-crack), or takes a medical whilst balanced on Mini Me's shoulders. I'm giggling to myself just thinking about it!

The second Austin Powers film was that rarest of sequels which was actually better (or at least on a par!) with the first. Therefore, the third instalment, aka 'Goldmember' had a lot to live up to. Does it? Just.Despite all its efforts, it isn't quite as good as its predecessor. It does come close, but the jokes have a 'recycled' feel to them and the new baddie (Goldmember himself) isn't a patch on Dr Evil. And now the two of them have to share screen time, therefore you still get the major laughs from Dr Evil and Mini Me, whereas you only get a couple of amusing catchphrases from the Gold Dutchman.But, this is just light-hearted entertainment at its best. It doesn't try to be anything too deep and meaningful and, if you liked the first two, you should enjoy this, too. If you've never seen an Austin Powers movie before, this is probably the wrong place to start. You're probably best to start at the beginning and if you like that one, try the next two.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Beyonce was a terrible choice as a "Power's Girl" and it kind of ruined the entire movie for me. She's really not that pleasant to look at, not to mention her acting was very obnoxious. I think the movie would have been gold (super corny pun intended) if they had cast just about anybody else to play the part of Foxxy Cleopatra. Everything else about the movie was great just every time she spoke I wanted to stab my eardrums until I became deaf and every time she came on screen I wanted to put my steel toe boot through the TV. Now for the spacer because apparently this retarded excuse for a movie website doesn't think I can get my opinion of this film across in less than 10 lines. Strange, isn't it? Well that puts me up to the limit. It's been real. Thanks for reading.