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#670 – Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Film review #670
Director: Jay Roach
SYNOPSIS: British super spy Austin Powers receives word that his Father has gone missing, and must travel back in time to the 1970’s to rescue him. Teaming up with undercover FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra, he investigates the supervillain Goldmember, who has some connection with the disappearance…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers in Goldmember is 2002 film and the third in the Austin Powers franchise. The opening sequence sees Austin Powers on the set of a film based on him named “Austinpussy,” as we see famous actors playing the roles of all the characters, including Tom Cruise as Austin, Danny Devito as Mini-me etc. with Spielberg directing. This is probably one of the funniest moments of the film: it throws in so many cameos and recognisable faces that it’s impossible to divert your attention. The plot proper focuses on Austin learning that his Father has disappeared, and the villain Goldmember is somehow responsible. Travelling back in time to the 1970s, Austin teams up with undercover FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra to stop Goldmember and unravel the mystery. The film is structured very similarly to the other Austin Powers films: like a series of skits loosely related to each other, and like the other films, some work better than others. On the whole though, the hits always outweigh the misses. Like the second film, Goldmember has a time travel aspect to the story, with Austin travelling back to the 1970’s this time instead of the 1960’s. The setting doesn’t play that much of a part of the film, but it is a little different from the 60’s setting of its predecessor. The time travel aspect does make things a bit confusing: often you can have no idea what time period a scene is in, but it’s not too much of an issue; you’re not watching this film for continuity. It does, however, throw up some new backstory for the characters in surprising ways, even if they barely make sense.
The humour continues the curve of the series with it incorporating more contemporary references and crude humour. As I mentioned in my review of the second film, the first one was very thorough in it’s spoofing of James Bond and spy films, so the humour does have to evolve and find new material. It’s still got enough of it, but it really becomes the base for other jokes, or to provide call-backs to the previous films. Goldmember leans a lot more into stereotypes and the humour is a bit more mean, and I think it doesn’t fit the series sometimes, and the more contemporary humour does make the film seem a little dated watching it in the present. There’s still plenty of good things about it and the humour is largely on par with the the other two, I just think there’s a few more misses this time around.
Goldmember‘s new cast are a good all-around addition: Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra works really well, and adds something fresh to the humour and story. Michael Caine as Austin’s Father Nigel is a really good choice, and he pulls off the role very well, sometimes being more Austin Powers than Austin Powers. Goldmember, played again by Michael Myers and bringing the characters he plays in the film to four alongside Austin, Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard, doesn’t really make much impact as a villain or a character> I remember his “smoke and a pancake” line being infinitely quoted when the film was released, but that’s about it. Overall, Goldmember fits nicely into the Austin Powers franchise, and continues its brand of humour. The film is a narrative mess between moving between time travelling and whatnot, but it’s easy to overlook that. It changes enough to keep things fresh, but it pushes the humour into more crude and contemporary references that I think narrow it’s appeal, and don’t connect as easily. Still, however, a perfectly good spoof in keeping with the franchise.
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#669 – Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Film review #669
Director: Jay Roach
SYNOPSIS: Dr. Evil returns from being frozen orbit with a new plan to defeat his nemesis Austin Powers: he travels to 1969 to steal Austin’s “mojo” and render him powerless. Austin chases him back in time, and teams up with CIA agent Felicity Shagwell to once again thwart Dr. Evil’s plan for world domination…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me is a 1999 film and a sequel to the 1997 Austin Powers film. Picking up right where the first film leaves off, Austin is on his honeymoon with Vanessa, when it turns out she is a fembot and tries to kill Austin. Destroying her and thus restoring his singlehood. Vanessa being a fembot all along makes zero sense in continuity, but like its predecessor, the film is a spoof that insists you don’t overthink about continuity and plotholes, and just “enjoy the ride.” This also goes for the time travel element of the story, as Basil and Austin turn to the camera, and tell the audience not to worry about it. That’s honestly the best way to do it in this type of film: you don’t want to get bogged down in the details and be thinking how it makes sense, rather than just enjoying the humour. Taking Austin back in time to 1969 puts Austin in his element, and refreshes the story instead of it being about Austin having to adjust to the 90’s again, which is a smart move and provides fertile ground for new material. In fact, I think this film actually flows better than the first one, which jumped around a bit too distinctly and made very little sense continuity-wise.
On the whole, the film is structured the same as the first one: With Michael Myers at the helm and following his experience on “Saturday Night Live,” the film is best treated as a series of related, somewhat connected skits. In this way, you can see that the skits are a bit of hit and miss: although the hits outweigh the misses by a good ratio, making an overall good experience. While the first film had the element of Vanessa being the prudish, straight-laced counter to Austin’s over-the-top colourful antics, this contrast never really got off the ground as a foundational plot-point, as Vanessa warmed up to Austin fairly quickly. Replacing Vanessa (Liz Hurley) with Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham), who is just as high-energy as Austin is, allows the film to just revel in what it does best: being colourful and fun.
A noticeable change in this film is that the humour pivots to more crude comedy, and incorporating contemporary references. The first film was very much focused on spoofing spy films and obviously 007, and it was very thorough is getting through all the material to spoof. As such, it makes sense to pivot the humour slightly differently, as it somewhat exhausted it’s subject matter. With one of the opening scenes featuring Jerry Springer and his talk show, this obviously feels a bit dated, but you get the idea. The inclusion of the character Fat Bastard, also played by Myers alongside Austin and Doctor Evil, adds in more crude humour, which is not going to appeal to everyone. I think he’s a character which has one joke, which is recycled a bit too much. Nevertheless, he has become a rather iconic character, so you’re mileage will vary with that. The film also has callbacks to jokes from the previous film, but I think they fail to iterate on them or do anything different, so they feel like recycling the same material.
Overall, I think The Spy Who Shagged Me is more or less on the same level as International Man of Mystery. I think it slightly improves over the original in terms of flow and plot structure, and revels in it’s own identity a bit more than focusing on spoofing other films. Where it is weaker is perhaps the incorporation of contemporary references and the crude humour that don’t have the more timeless, universal appeal. On the whole though, the film carries the franchise onward well.
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#668 – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Film review #668
Director: Jay Roach
SYNOPSIS: Supervillain Dr. Evil is foiled once again by British Agent Austin Powers, and escapes by putting himself into cryogenic stasis in orbit. Austin Powers agrees to be frozen himself, until the time that Dr. Evil returns. Thirty years later in 1997, Dr. Evil remerges, and Austin is reanimated into a very different world from the sixties…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 film. The film sees British agent Austin Powers reanimated from cryogenic stasis after his nemesis Dr. Evil has returned via the same method after thirty years. Austin has to readjust to life in the 1990’s, as well as stop Dr. Evil’s plan for world domination. The film is primarily a spoof of classic spy films; James Bond in particular to the surprise of no one. While the humour is perhaps of little surprise to anyone, in the sense that it is rather easy to poke fun at the 007 formula because it is so formulaic, Austin Powers is very thorough in that you end up feeling they really got as much mileage out of the subject matter as they possibly could have. Flipping the innuendo-based, nudge-nudge-wink of Bond to an openly raunchy and Horny Powers also provides a very different tone, so it doesn’t feel stuck in the shadows of it’s spoofed subject matter: it can be bright, colourful and funny in it’s own way.
Where this film shines strongest is it blends the sixties and nineties quite well, picking up humour and satire from both eras and playing it out well: as such, I think it hit a sweet spot upon release, in that it appealed to an older demographic with the sixties aesthetic, while still having enough modern humour that pokes fun at the older stuff for teens and young adults. Goldeneye in 1995 brought the James Bond films into the modern era by addressing the role of 007 in a post-Cold War world, and Austin Powers somewhat does the same thing, just obviously with a much more comedy-focused approach. I don’t think there’s anything necessarily new or surprising here that lesser films have done before, but everything is brought together well, and full of colour and energy to make entertaining from start to finish.
The plot in this film is obviously a secondary concern, but taking a closer look at it, the film barely flows at all; it often feels like a set of loosely connected skits featuring the characters. It zips around the different locations and characters without any real regard for continuity, but like I say, it’s not too much of a concern. The film is mostly about throwing Austin and Dr. Evil into silly situations, which it does well. Mike Myers plays both the role of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, sharing a different type of humour with each: Powers with his raunchy, straightforwardness, and Dr. Evil as a parody of Blofeld having to accommodate his evil plans to a world that sees Evil in a different way, and also having to deal with being a father. As I say, it’s varied enough to keep things interesting, and when a scene’s humour doesn’t pay off, it quickly moves onto the next one anyway. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery perhaps treads old ground parodying the oft-parodied spy franchise, but keeps it fresh with it’s quick humour that never lingers, and it’s variety that appeals across a wide audience. I wasn’t blown away by the humour, but it avoids becoming stale at any point, so it’s perfectly entertaining from beginning to end.
