Hey folks, Harry here with the glorious first report, of what I hope will be many, from FilmGirl! She just saw AUSTIN POWERS 3 last night and from the sound of it, while still rough, it was funny as can be. Now a bit of a warning here... this entire first part of her review is completely spoiler-free... but after that... BEWARE, I don't recommend reading as she does spoil stuff like the gags in the dance numbers and explaining cameos in comedies and such shouldn't be done, because they ought to just hit you cold. If you do read it, please be considerate of others and... well you know with great power comes great responsibility... well, with a modicum of knowledge comes gobs of maturity in dispensing that knowledge. Ya know? Ok here's the fabulous FilmGirl....
Austin Powers: Goldmember
I was given the oppurtunity to see Austin Powers: Goldmember today. After being checked by security guards for any cameras or recording devices I was escorted into the theater. I've just got to say that I've been to a bunch of these things and never have I been searched. I suppose Star Wars getting on the net a week early has really freaked the studios out. Then as usual a guy went up to the front of the theater and told us that what we are about to see is a workprint, some of the music may be temparary, the credits aren't quite finished, there maybe some color that isn't balanced or saturated right here or there yada yada yada. Basically what they always say in case the movie ends up sucking so they can blame it on the fact that the film wasn't technically perfect yet. :)
Then he said something to the effect of 'if there are any critics in the audience.....don't review this movie.'
Oops.....sorry New Line. Please don't send any armored guards to my place... :)
Alright time to get into the review. First I'm going to post the non spoiler short and sweet version for the crowd who just wants to know whether it rocks or sucks. After that I will be in full spoiler mode so watch out.(as if spoilers from an Austin Powers movie are that big of a deal anyways^_^)
The movie rocks. My favorite Austin Powers movie is the Spy Who Shagged Me and I didn't like Goldmember as much as that one but this movie still rocks. Some extremely funny moments where the entire audience was laughing uncontrollably and then there are also jokes that fall flat on their face; but who knows, those could be edited out by release time.
Ok, now time for the spoilers. Read no further if you don't want to know specifics about the movie.
"There are only two things I hate in this world: People who are intolerant of other cultures and the dutch."
-Nigel Powers
The opening of the movie is hilarious; it's one of my favorite parts:
A movie is being made based on Austin's life that stars Tom Cruise as Austin, Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil, Danny Devito as Mini-Me and Gwenyth Paltrow as Dixie, Austin's girl friday of that movie. Oh and of course it's directed by Steven Spielberg. Just some really funny moments in that sequence the best of which is when Danny Devito pops on screen as Mini-me firing a machine gun. :D
It soon moves into the title sequence with Austin leading a group of backup dancers to the familar Austin Powers theme. Spielberg decides to get in on the action too and does back flips across the screen.^_^
While they dance across the studio lot they go into a soundstage where Britney Spears is filming her latest video. Austin and his backup dancers have a bit of a dance off with Britney and her dancers. It turns out that Britney is a femme bot sent to kill Austin and yes like all femme bots her boobs are machine guns; I'm sure that guys will love that scene. This scene alone is worth the price of admission because you get to see Britney blow up.
After this the titles finish and the plot of the movie starts. The plot is extremely thin but were you expecting anything else? Dr. Evil teams up with Goldmember to once again destroy the world and along the way they kidnap Austin's father. It's up to Austin to foil their plans.
Austin soon teams up with Foxy Cleopatra played by Destiny's Child singer Beyonce Knowles. Unfortunatly she is the worst part of the movie and I don't really think Beyonce's acting abilities are to blame. She just isn't given anything really funny to say like the other charectors are. In fact I can't think of any instance where the audience laughed out load at her lines. She just isn't that interesting or fun of a charector as opposed to Felicity Shagwell who I really missed in this movie. I thought that maybe she would be at the begining but nope, she is nowhere to be seen in the film.
Michael Cane who plays Austin Powers' father gets off a few good lines but there are several more of his that could have been much funnier but somehow came off flat.
My only other gripe about the movie is that some of the gags go on for to long and get so repetitive that they just stop being funny. The 'Scotty don't' scene immediatly comes to mind which is basically the same as the 'zip it' scene from the Spy Who Shagged Me except that it seems to go on forever.
Along with Mini-Me, Fat Bastard also returns in this installment as a sumo wrestler. And hey, if you ever wondered what Fat Bastard would be in a Matrix style fight.....well this movie has you covered. :)
Other things that I especially liked: Dr. Evil's submarine, Dr. Evil and Mini-Me's jailhouse rap, Mini-me's proposition to Foxy Cleopatra, the Silence of the Lambs spoof, Dr. Evil's demonstration of world destruction, John Travolta's cameo at the end, the subtitled Mr. Roboto sequence
Oh and The Osbournes! Can't forget the Osbournes! I didn't see that coming at all but it was great. At the end of the movie you get to see outakes of Ozzy trying to say one line at least 10 times and failing miserably.
So overall I had a great time and thats all I expect from seeing an Austin Powers movie. I want to be entertained and laugh and thats what I got even if many of the jokes are based on pissing, farting or various other bodily functions. If you couldn't find humor in the other Austin movies then well, just stay away because it's more of the same. But if you, like me tend to regress to an infantile state of mind while watching these films then you are going to love it. Hell, even my middle aged mother loves these movies.
Oh and BTW Austin and Dr. Evil are _________
-FilmGirl :Patiently waits for New Line to break down her front door:
Any comments or questions can be sent to The Glorious, Fabulous, Astonishing, Stupendous, Radient FILMGIRL!!!
