(Rated PG-13, 94 mins.)
He’s back baby, grrrrrrr! And this time there’s four of him. In this third and funniest installment of the Austin Powers series, Mike Meyers returns as Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and now Goldmember. Austin is called back into action when Dr. Evil and Mini-Me escape from a maximum security prison, but that’s only the beginning. Before Austin can stop Evil’s evil, the strangely inept doctor has traveled back to 1975 and unearthed Goldmember, a psychedelic golden-dude boogeying the night away at Studio 69 (Studio 54). Naturally, Goldmember is intent on destroying the world, and his chief weapon is a ship called “Preparation H” (don’t ask). Michael Caine, perfectly cast, joins the crew as Nigel Powers, Austin’s daddy, as does Beyonce Knowles, late of the pop group Destiny’s Child, as Foxxy Cleopatra, a streetwise but stylish relic from the era of ‘Shaft’ and ‘Superfly.’ Among the welcome returnees are Seth Greene as Dr. Evil’s wayward son and Michael York as Austin’s right-hand man. The movie’s overwhelming energy becomes exhausting and the storyline manages to get lost, yet miraculously the fun never fizzles, because the laughs are nonstop. Incredible cameos by Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny DeVito, Steven Spielberg and Kevin Spacey, to name a few. Yeah, baby! Groovy!
