Austin Powers Shagadelic Box [DVD] [1997]

"I put the grrr in swinger, baby!" a deliciously randy Powers coos near the beginning of The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and if the imagination of Austin creator Mike Myers seems to have sagged a bit, his energy surely hasn't. This friendly, go-for-broke sequel finds our man Austin heading back to the '60s to keep perennial nemesis Dr. Evil (Myers again) from blowing up the world - and, more importantly, to get back his mojo, that man-juice that turns Austin into irresistible catnip for women, especially American spygirl Felicity Shagwell (a pretty but vacant Heather Graham). The plot may be irreverent and illogical, the jokes may be bad, and the scenes may run on too long, but it's all delivered sunnily and with tongue firmly in cheek. Myers teams Dr. Evil with a diminutive clone, Mini-Me (Verne J. Troyer), then pulls a hat trick by playing a third character, the obese and disgusting Scottish assassin Fat Bastard.

Despite symptoms of sequelitis, Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) is must-see lunacy for devoted fans of the shagadelic franchise. Unfortunately, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect: for every big-name cameo and raunchy double-entendre, there's an equal share of redundant shtick, juvenile scatology, and pop-cultural spoofery. All is forgiven when the hilarity level is consistently high, and Mike Myers -returning here as randy Brit spy Austin, his nemesis Dr. Evil, the bloated Scottish henchman Fat Bastard, and new Dutch disco-villain Goldmember - thrives by favouring comedic chaos over coherent plotting. Once they've tossed Austin into the disco fever of 1975 (where he's sent to rescue his father, gamely played by Michael Caine), Myers and director Jay Roach seem vaguely adrift with old and new characters, including Verne Troyer's Mini-Me and pop star Beyoncé Knowles as Pam Grier-ish blaxpo-babe Foxxy Cleopatra. A bit tired, perhaps, but Powers hasn't lost his mojo.

Synopsis
Three features in the Austin Powers trilogy: 'International Man Of Mystery', The Spy Who Shagged Me' and 'Goldmember', the third movie in the Austin Powers series, stars Mike Myers in director Jay Roach's James Bond Sci-Fi 1970s funkadelic formula a hyper-stylised backdrop to what is ultimately Myers' one-man show. GOLDMEMBER is a family affair. Austin has a few unresolved issues with his dear old dad, Nigel Powers (the dead ringer Michael Caine, who is also a good sport), and he hopes to work out some Freudian tension when he's not saving the world from the forces of evil. Myers flexes his actor muscles and portrays a more thoughtful, and is it even possible a slightly less geeky Austin in this film. Likewise, even the bad guys show some new personality: Dr. Evil reveals a penchant for talking like a hip-hop, wise-ass homeboy, and the new villain Goldmember (the latest in Myers' repertoire) is an enigmatic amputee with a heart of gold who speaks with a Dutch accent and eats his own peeling skin. If that's not disgusting enough, Fat Bastard, the greasy behemoth from THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME, appears again in GOLDMEMBER, delving into new and nasty scatological territory. But the joke's on us, because GOLDMEMBER's toilet humour is so extreme that it dissolves into a harmless fit of giggles, keeping viewers laughing from start to finish.

• DVD & Blu-ray > Comedy

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