Premise - Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) is finally captured by Austin Powers (Mike Myers), but his diabolical plan to use Goldmember's (Mike Myers) 'tractor beam' to flood the earth has already been set into motion. Austin must travel back to 1975 to not only confront Goldmember, but save his father (Michael Caine) and help Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) get her revenge against the gold one. I'm going to lay this on the line straight away. If you liked the previous two Austin Powers films then run (don't trot) to the nearest cinema and get ready to laugh. If on the other hand you despise Mike Myers spoof of the Bond franchise then go and read a book. For at the end of the day 'Goldmember' doesn't stray too far from the formula that has been so successful before. Yes, a lot of the jokes are recycled from the previous two films, but the amount has been dramatically reduced from the last movie. 'The Spy Who Shagged Me' was guilty of rehashing most of the first films jokes, but Goldmember only has a handful from the last two films and they are easily the better jokes from the previous films. For example, gone is Will Ferrell's 'Mustafa', a joke that lingered well past it's sell by date in the last film. Also a lot of the gags have been given a new skew to freshen them up. The recycling of gags is itself spoofed in the film, with an excellent little scene featuring a cameo from one of TV's most popular families. Cameo's seem to be the order of the day as the film is absolutely dripping with them. The opening ten minutes contains more cameos than I think I have ever seen in a film. Some were a complete surprise and a nice touch. The characters in the film go through a fair bit of development, especially the 'Evil' crew. Myers is clearly not content to continue leathering the same old character traits and gives each one something to do so that at the end of the film they have moved forward and are not the same people that started the film. So, the film has as much new as old. How does the new stuff work out? Very well actually. The new character 'Goldmember' is inspired. His dutch accent is the source of a multitude of laughs. As is his hobby, the collection of a certain disgusting bodily substance. Goldmember gets his name after his genitalia was the victim of an 'unfortunate smelting accident' and his groin features heavily throughout the film. Myers clearly has a ball playing this guy and the make up is incredibly convincing. You really do forget that it's Myers who is playing this role. Myers returning characters also impress. Ask anyone what their favourite thing about the Powers movies is and likely they will not say Austin himself, but rather Dr. Evil. Evil is one of the most inspired comic creations of the past ten years and he continues to tickle the ribs in this film. A lot of people don't like Fat Bastard, maybe it's because I'm Scottish, but I think he's a laugh riot. In this film he has little to do, but when he is on screen I was laughing my socks off. An excellent coda at the end of the film rounds of his character nicely and provides one of the biggest laughs of the film. Powers himself has moved on from the 'fish out of water' that we were introduced to in the first film and is now a kick ass secret agent that doesn't think twice about jumping into a time machine to save humanity. Myers has (rightfully) let the character step back slightly and let the other, more interesting characters come to the fore. It was a wise decision, as funny as Powers is the majority of the laughs come from elsewhere. Myers should be applauded for playing four major characters in one film, he shows amazing range to be able to pull it off. It's amazing that at no point do you think that they are all played by the same person. Michael Caine's 'Nigel Powers' is more of a cameo role than the films publicity would have you think. However, his performance is good and he seems to be relishing going back to the kind of role that made him the household name he is today. Verne Troyer returns as 'Mini-Me' and since the character is mute he has to express himself exclusively through physical mannerisms, which he does excellently. One of my favourite young comic actors Seth Green is back as 'Scott Evil' and this time round his character evolves into something new and it's a change that works. Disappointingly Robert Wagner has little to do as 'Number Two' except stand around and laugh menacingly from time to time. The real find though is Beyonce Knowles as 'Foxxy Cleopatra'. The trailers didn't exactly instil me with confidence as far as she was concerned, but she pulled it off. She's not going to be up for any Oscars any time soon, but she is a damn sight better than Liz 'plank' Hurley in the first film. She shows a lot of confidence for this being her first feature film and has a variety of revealing outfits that are very easy on the eye! It's the jokes that make or break a film like this however and although some fall flat, the vast majority hit the mark. I was literally laughing out loud constantly throughout the film. The jokes come thick and fast and I think I missed a few because I hadn't regained my composure from the last gag. A second viewing is required methinks. I'm not going to give any of the jokes away as that would be a crime, but suffice to say it's a laugh and a half. Myers seems to have learned from the last film as far as 'gross-out' humour goes as Goldmember is much lighter on this front than the previous film. Any gross-out stuff that is in the film is fairly tame and I wouldn't think it would offend anyone that much. Goldmember is one hell of a funny film and easily as good as the last film and a little better than the original. Like I said, If you like Austin Powers then you have to catch this one. If you don't? Well, it's your loss baby!

7/10 for Austin Powers in Goldmember. Poster Quote - Oh, behave.