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My husband and I were spending a month in the Netherlands last summer when Goldmember premiered in the States.
“Have you heard about the new Austin Powers movie?” we often heard. “The villain is Dutch!” Since I am, too, that alone made me need to see this movie.
This third installment in the Austin Powers series, I discovered, was more like The Austin Powers Variety Show than an actual movie. There are flashback scenes and wacky musical numbers thrown in -- as well as an endless supply of cameos by stars ranging from Britney Spears to the Osbournes. And, somewhere in the middle of all of the other stuff, the plot gets a bit lost.
The story follows as Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) once again plots to take over the planet. To do so, he enlists the help of Goldmember (also Myers), an infamous Dutch villain from the 70s. To keep agent Austin Powers (yep -- Myers again) out of their way, they distract him by kidnapping his absentee father (not Myers -- Michael Caine) and taking him back to the 70s. On his way to rescue his dad, Austin runs into Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles), a beautiful agent (and former flame) who joins him on the case.
First of all, I need to clear something up. I know a lot of people with very thick Dutch accents, and none of them sound anything like Goldmember. But who cares? He was funny anyway (and from him, I got my new favorite line: “I’m from Holland! Isn’t that weird?” Did I mention that I grew up in Holland, Michigan?)
As with any Austin Powers movie, the little random one-liners and sight gags are what makes the film so funny. Unfortunately, Goldmember just didn’t really do it for me. Sure, it was good for a few laughs -- but not as many as I would have expected. Add to that the fact that the plot seemed totally unimportant to the movie, and you end up with a disappointing third installment in an otherwise entertaining franchise.
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