Dr. Evil plans to blackmail the world with a tractor beam which threatens to attract an asteroid and crash it into the North Pole, melting the ice caps and flooding the world, unless the governments pay him a huge ransom. He is aided by Goldmember, a Dutch villain reterieved from the 70s. Luckily, he is opposed by MI6 spy Austin Powers, who brings Foxxy Cleopatra from the 70s, as well, while Dr. Evil's henchman Mini-Me switches sides and joins Austin. Complicating matters is Austin's dad Nigel, who reveals that Dr. Evil is Austin's lost brother. Dr. Evil thus joins Austin against Goldmember and stops the tractor beam, while Hollywood makes a movie about them.
The 3rd instalment of the "Austin Powers" film series is better than the vile part II, yet still weaker than part I, which offered the highest amplitude of events and inspiration while spoofing James Bond movies. Luckily, Austin Powers does not take his clothes off in this film. Two genius sequences that are comedy gold: the first one is the trick opening, where, after an action sequence, it is revealed that Austin Powers is actually played by Tom Cruise, his girl Dixie by Gwyneth Paltrow, whereas Mini-Me is none other than Danny DeVito (!), and the viewers then find out it is all just a film set of the newest movie, "Austinpussy", directed by Steven Spielberg! In fact, Spielberg's presence is probably the reason the story was toned down from derailing too much into crude jokes, like the previous film did. The other noteworthy sequence is the clever playing with white subtitles of a Japanese businessman, where other white objects block a part of the sentence, so Austin keeps getting distorted words while trying to understand him. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is nowhere near as inspired or comical, with too much empty walks, unnecessary subplots (what is the point of a flashback to Austin and Dr. Evil during their young days?) and recycling of stuff that was already seen in part I or II, or even "Wayne's World II" (the mole joke). As it is often the case, comedian Mike Myers is more energetic than he is sucessful at actually creating good jokes (Fat Bastard and Goldmember are unfunny), yet his charm is able to carry the film, nonetheless. A wacky and crazy comedy, and still a solid fun, despite its flaws.
Grade:++
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