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Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
A rejuvenated sequel
I actually prefer this to The spy who Shagged me, Goldmember just feels better overall with sharper writing. Still doesn't come close to the original but rather fun nonetheless.
The plot by now is very thin, but the film still works because it regains some of the old charm that made the original so great. There is a reintroduction of the concept of character development here, with Austin again being given multiple layers like in the first one. I feel that in the second film they made him too one-dimensional. The casting remains great with Michael Caine acquitting himself very well with the content he was given to work with. Mini Me and the Scottish gentleman whose name I shall not mention remain one-joke characters that add little. Goldmmeber is the new addition, again quite a flat character but he had some funny parts like in the skit where Dr evil and Goldmember pretend to be truckers.
The gag quality is still nowhere near on the level of the original but I think that the jokes here are better written and are frankly funnier than those jokes in the second film. There's a number of clever jokes poking fun at certain aspects of the Bond series, though I think some jokes needed better editing. Take the subtitles scene, it's a neat concept but I dislike how they made Beyonce explain the joke. With slight editing I think that could have been made far better.
These points mentioned, having rewatched the trilogy, it held up just as well as I remembered. They're all above average comedies and it's not hard to see why they were once so popular.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
A big step down from it's predecessor- but still a decent film
The Spy who Shagged Me (even the name is randy!) is still a relatively funny movie, but having rewatched all three I can't help but feel that it's the weakest of the trilogy.
I think part of the reason for this is the fact that it doesn't really have the same charm that the original had, it opts for broader humour which was becoming more popular at the time ala There's Something about Mary. It has more pop culture riffs in here too, which only make it seem more dated. Granted, there still aren't a huge amount of these like in the later Scary Movie entries where pop culture references make up 75% of the run-time but it feels a bit soulless compared to the first. While Goldmember had its problems i think that in general the gags are a slightly higher quality than those presented in this one.
The casting remains strong, with the possible expectation of Heather Graham who while attractive to many is a rather poor actor here, I think she did a much better job in 'Boogie Nights'. The film also has a jumbled plot and character depth is thrown out the window somewhat, with Austin being far more one-dimensional and heartless than in International Man of Mystery. The gags here are hit and miss, still some really good ones in here but some just don't work and MIni-Me and the Scottish gentleman whose name I shall not speak are one-joke characters that do nothing to progress the film forward.
Endlessly quotable though, and worth a look.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
If he were any cooler, he'd still be frozen baby.
Firstly, I want to mention that I want to try and avoid making comparisons to other films in this review but I feel like I have to. This first Austin Powers flick is one of the all time great spoof films, and while the sequels are fun they're a big step down, so I can't help but compare where this film went right and where they went wrong.
As someone who grew up with the old Bond films and the Carry On films, I've always really appreciated this film. Despite being an American production it has a very British feel to it, well after all the Bond series that it parodies it British itself. Comparing it to the sequels, they were much more Americanised and while this isn't in itself an inherently bad thing this one has a certain uniqueness and charm that isn't found in many other films in general. It has a wonderful soundtrack, and amazing sets and costumes that look great and the intentionally over-the-top nature of it all is just too amusing for me to resist.
The casting is very strong with Michael York brilliant as Basil Exposition, a parody of Q from Bond, and there's super fun cameos with Will Ferrell, Tom Arnold and Carrie Fisher. Liz Hurley fits her role like a glove and plays really well alongside Myers, such great chemistry.
The jokes themselves are hilarious, there's loads of great, well written observations about the cliches of Bond movies. Examples of this include Seth Green pointing out the inconsistencies of Dr Evil's plans, the gag about the deceased henchman, and Dr Evil's monologue playing up the fact that villains often have strange backstories. It's no exaggeration to say that this monologue is perfectly written, with every word perfectly used, and Myers delivery of it was faultless. My personal favourite though is the blackjack scene, my interpretation of it is that it parodies James Bond's ability to win at casino games of chance through skill, luck & cunning even if his opponents are cheating. This turns that on its head by having Austin Powers not even understand the basic concepts of the game.
The film does have crude sexual humour, but much of this isn't there needlessly and is a parody of just how over-the-top these 60s Bond films were with their nature and outrageous character names. The sequels lean into slapstick and broader humour far more, but the jokes present in this one are seemingly all well thought out and it never once appears as forced. Comparing it to, say, Scary Movie (or even this film's sequels), they push themselves to cramming in a joke in every sentence, while this means the film has plenty of laughs in it, it all gets a bit tedious and many of them don't land anyways. Here, the humour never feels rushed or forced, and it all feels natural. It has a lighthearted tone and is never mean spirited, Myers love of the period and it's spy movies really shine through.
With this film even if you don't know much about the source material it's still funny, a trait also present in Mel Brook's best films or, say, Galaxy Quest. If you know the source material well, then this only enhances what should already be a very entertaining experience. If you're a comedy movie lover, you really can't go wrong here. A classic.