Toronto

As critics trash the latest Austin Powers movie, I begin to get a little worried. Will it be as good as the second one? Could the critics be right, for once? Well, no, they're wrong, as usual. Goldmember is every bit as funny as The Spy Who Shagged Me. It's still not as great as the first one, but it does entertain. From the celebrity cameo packed introduction to the seemingly endless array of flatulence, wiener, urine and poo jokes, this movie does entertain. Myers is back as four characters this time. Negatives out of the way: Beyonce Knowles, while a hot hot babe, is dull and doesn't really belong here. Was Halle Berry busy, I wonder? The Goldmember character was a bit of a waste. The guy did nothing, really. He kicked behind his head and ate his own peeling skin and said "farja" a lot, but aside from the Dutch accent, he really isn't all that funny. Incidentally, why is it okay to insult Dutch people but not other nationalities? If a Mexican or a Jamaican character were to be the target of so many insulting jokes (mostly courtesy of a Dutch-hating Nigel Powers played by Michael Caine) , this movie would be boycotted by every special interest group from here to Mars. Another negative is that the usual musical introduction is a sorry one, more of a crummy music video than the usual Austin Powers dance routine. As well, I didn't realize it till I got home Sunday night and saw the first one on TV, but it also lacks the familiar five-second Austin Powers interludes. I can't believe I didn't miss these in the theatre. If I had noticed, I probably would have given it a 7. The good: we get some of the same rehashes of the old scenes we've come to expect: the shadow play, the "look up in the sky, is that a..." sequence, but we also get some new gags that work quite well and a thoroughly well-done flashback scene that had me dripping in my undies. Goldmember is another installment in a series that shows no sign of stopping. Myers himself said he would be thrilled to make them the rest of his life. And the end does leave us with a hint of what is to come.

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