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A DVD Review of...
  
Images (C) New Line Cinema, 2002 |
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Mike Myers, Beyonce Knowles, Michael Caine, Michael York, Seth Green, Mindy Sterling
Synopsis: It's been three years since Austin Powers, that swinging international man of mystery, has had to face his arch enemy, Dr. Evil. But after Dr. Evil and his accomplice Mini-Me escape from a maximum-security prison, Austin is called to action once more in this third installment of the highly successful Austin Powers movie franchise. Teaming up with the mysterious yet peculiar Goldmember, Dr. Evil hatches a time-traveling scheme to take over the world, one that involves the kidnapping of Nigel Powers, Austin's beloved father and England's most renowned spy. As he chases the villains through time, Austin visits 1975 and joins forces with his old flame, Foxxy Cleopatra, a streetwise but stylish detective. Together Austin and Foxxy must find a way to save Nigel and stop Dr. Evil and Goldmember from their mischievous mayhem..
Film Review: As much debate and talk as there is about the "Austin Powers" movies, the fact is each one is about the same quality as the other. When the comedy works its on fire and contains some truly great laugh-out loud gags and satire. However a lot of the gags also fall flat on their face or are simply more gross than actually funny. The characters are unique and each has their own great quirks with every time 'Dr. Evil' (a comic creation of pure genius) easily stealing the show. Supporting cast is solid across the board and whilst the plot is very lacklustre, the almost sketch like nature and sheer creative talent help carry the film to an overall good conclusion.
To me anyway, "Goldmember" isn't up there with "The Spy Who Shagged Me" but does beat the original. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses and here its strengths are some of the best bits of the whole franchise. Indeed the opening seven minutes of the film will go down as arguably the best action/comedy sequence in cinema this year - its so good it best not to be spoiled in anyway. Other moments are just sheer great comedy from Dr. Evil's "Hard Knock Life" prison rap, a sub-titled meeting in a Tokyo office, a Godzilla in-joke, and a great scene in Goldmember's nightclub. On the flipside though gags don't work - the silhouette sequence of the second film is repeated but less cleverly, a flashback to boarding school days, and a "Star Wars"-esque plot twist towards the end falls flat. The Osbourne's cameo is just dull but its about the only celeb cameo which is.
Myers is still going strong, the 'Powers' character gets more engaging and less annoying with each effort, here he's more watchable than ever. Dr. Evil remains a great character but aside from one or two gags he's sadly not up there with his previous film apearances. Beyonce Knowles pleasantly surprises as she proves the best Powers girl yet, easily ahead of the lacklustre Heather Graham and the fun but somewhat stilted Liz Hurley. Michael Caine is fine but somewhat lacklustre as Austin's father. The Goldmember character creation has strengths though a 'peeling skin condition' element isn't one of them. Seth Green who proved memorable in the last two is disappointing here, Mini-Me on the other hand is better than his previous appearance. Sterling, York and Wagner sadly don't get to do as much as last time, whilst the Fat Bastard cameo is just absolutely gross beyond words.
Production quality as always on this series remains increasingly high. The sets, music, dance sequences, direction, pace, etc. keep getting better and better. Can they overcome the patchiness of the script or humour though? That's the trouble with the 'Austin' movies and especially this one - its dificult to recommend. Will most people enjoy it? You bet. Are some of the gags so funny you have to see them for yourself? Absolutely. Are there enough of those good gags to overcome the bad ones? Hard to say. These film's are filled with a great comic energy that its a must see with a big crowd, but on its own it still has a fair share of problems. You're probably going to see it anyway and if you do, you'll be very pleased with certain parts of it. - Garth Franklin
"Austin Powers in Goldmember: Infinifilm Series"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 1)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 95mins
Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed
Aspect Ratio: 1.85: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1ex & 2.0, DTS 6.1ex
Language & Sub-Titles: English
Commentary: Director Jay Roach & Writer/Actor Mike Myers.
Documentaries: Four 'Beyond the Movie' Featurettes, Ten 'Making Of' Featurettes, VFX Featurette
Other: Deleted Scenes, 4 Music Videos, 5 Trailers, Fact Track
DVD-Rom: Re-Voice Studio, Weblinks
Region 1 vs. Region 4: No Region 4 Available. |
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DVD Review: The latest Infinifilm release may not be as rich in the 'subject matter' area as the previous ones, but the 'All Access Pass' is filled with some quite juicy stuff. The video is excellenet with a truly stunning anamorphic widescreen transfer, the colour and blacks are eye-popping, the detail is beautifully high and grain is non-present. The soundtrack is superb - both the DD & DTS tracks make aggressive use of the surround sound with excellent use of sound FX, whilst the score has a surprisingly strong and varied range. With the commentary its Roach and Myers who bounce of each other effectively. Myers throws in the zingers as Roach tries to give out some serious facts but knows when to have a good laugh. The former is more restrained than you may expect and whilst both kiss ass a little too much, they're refreshingly entertaining for the most part.
"Beyond the Movie" is split into four featurettes running a total of only about twelve minutes. "MI-6: International Men of Mystery" talks about the origin of the British external intelligence agency and its aristocratic recruiting scheme, how Yugoslav playboy Dusko Popov pretty much inspired Ian Fleming to create James Bond, and Austin's real life counterpart. "English, English" is a bit about the cockney rhyming slang used in the 70's bedroom scene and Myers household embarassments as a youth. "Disco Fever" shows off some great behind-the-scenes stuff from the 1970's club scene along with talk of the hedonism and wild outfits. Finally "Fashion vs. Fiction" looks at the various costumes for the many different eras, countries and characters used throughout the film and talks about some of the creative license taken by the filmmakers.
"The World of Austin Powers" is pretty much one documentary broken down into eight smaller parts. Half of those are dedicated to the "Conflunce of Characters" which has Myers, Roach, Caine, etc. all talking about how they came up with
the various new characters for the film incl. Goldmember who was mostly based on a European swinger, Foxy (Pam Grier movies), Nigel (Michael Caine's own movies ala "The Ipcress Files"), and the young actors who played the college-era Austin and Dr. Evil (which is cool as we see the fun but extensive preparation they had to go through). "Creative Convergence" focuses on the Roach/Myers relationship and how the various actors have difficulty not laughing on set before breaking out into kiss assing. The short "Opening Stunts" looks at the "Mission: Impossible"/Bond esque opening parachute helicopter sequence, whilst "The Cars of Austin Powers" checks out the 'Shaguar', the 'Pimpmobile' and Goldmember's phallic mini. This section ends with "Anatomy of Three Scenes" which looks at the on-set preparations and filming of the opening dance, the 70's disco and the Sumo fight (the rehersal footage for the 70's skating scene are great).
Eighteen minutes of "Deleted Scenes" are the biggest bonus here, kicking off with a simple but funny trick with a pair of gartered legs and a mirror. Some good giggles are garnered from the standard 'objects hiding genetalia' scene which is set in the college era, No. 2 with an alpaca farmer sales pitch, Mini-Me doing a 'Crouching Tiger' esque move, `frickin idiot' anagrams, Michael Caine's intense Dutch hatred, the return of Fook Mi & Fook Yu, more 'Faja' jokes & singing, and a Monty Python esque vomiting scene. The real highlight though seems to be a spoof of the Aimee Man "Magnolia" song with each member of the cast singing a line from the same song one after the other - from Frau in leather with a whip to Robert Wagner in drag its quite offbeat and funny.
Four minutes of outtakes are on this but sadly they're somewhat disappointing with only Caine's dutch-hating screw ups really giving any laughs. "Visual FX Segment" has a four-minute intro with demonstration of the different elements which were combined to create several scenes before a silent demo layer-by-layer shot of the Goldmember car entering Dr. Evil's submarine. There's FOUR music videos on this including Beyonce Knowles' "Work it Out", Britney Spears' "Boys" (with DJ Qualls), and longer versions of both Ming Tea's "Daddy Wasn't There" and the great "Hard Knock Life" by Dr. Evil which appeared in the film. Finally, trailers include the original short lived teaser with Mini-Me recreating the original film's opening, the Superbowl ad (and a similar alternate version), and both full trailers. Not the best Austin film but certainly the best Powers disc. - Garth Franklin
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