Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I’m not allowed to review this film until next week, but I can say that I liked it a hell of a lot. It actually has made me laugh more as I’ve been thinking about it, and I can’t wait to see it again opening weekend. Now there are reviews coming in like mad.
This first review comes in from “Sean Bateman,” younger brother to one of the sickest freaks I know. Check it out:
Hey Harry and Co.,
Last night I was fortunate enough to see Austin Powers 3: Goldmember at its press screening. Just wanted to drop a line about how I felt after the screening. I loved AP1, I think it is a standout all around comedy. AP2 was highly un-funny. Most of the joked fell flat and I disliked Heather Graham immensely. Austin Powers 3 is not as funny as the first, but a million times better than the second. The crowd I saw the movie with was pretty much into it the whole time. Even a lot of the critics laughed for the most part. Only a few jokes fall flat.
The story is pretty simple blending together a lot of different stories from movies. Hints of, obviously, Goldfinger and Silence of the Lambs are pretty evident. Essentially, Austin’s father is kidnapped by Goldmember and Austin has to befriend Dr. Evil to save him. That is one sentence that motivates the whole movie. The entire film is too episodic to truly sum up without over viewing every scene. It also has some funny elements of musical involved.
Mike Myers is very funny as Austin, Dr. Evil and Goldmember, but his Fat Bastard once again falls flat. Beyonce Knowles is funny in her relatively small role. Seth Green gets some big laughs, and Michael Caine is pretty funny as Austin’s Dad. Other than that, Fred Savage gets big laughs and the guest appearances are beyond funny.
I most definitely recommend this movie to anyone who loved the first. I highly recommend it to people who hate the series because of the second film. Give it a shot, the jokes are pretty much all hits, and the film as a whole is a solid hit.
Sincerely,
Sean Bateman
I’m guessing this next guy might have been at the same screening as me:
Greetings. I too did indeed see AP3 this past weekend at a special screening that a friend snuck me into, it was a press screening, as she works for a fan magazine. I can tell you that the film is funny, very, very funny. I went in a skeptic, I was moderate fan of the first one, and thought the second one was great. I was a little under-jazzed going in, but I can say that this film had me laughing from the beginning. I myself won't devulge any of the spoilers from the first three minutes, but if you dig around a few years ago there was a blurb in Entertainment Weekly that listed a series of A-list stars that would be doing cameos in the film. Let's just say it is quite possibly the funniest shock in recent memory. I'll leave it at that and say that I am not a huuuuge Myers fan at all, but this is an interesting swan song/cap to the franchise, or trilogy as the press materials indicated. Michael Caine is hysterical and there is this very funny flashback to when Austin and Evil were in prep school together. It is so funny seeing them as kids, also there is a great series of scenes with them as kids. Also, Beyonce Knowles is like a neo-Pam Grier. It takes place in the seventies for a very brief moment and then it is modern day 2002. Very cool movie, very funny, Harry, you'll like it.
You can call me THE STUFF
This next guy didn’t like it much at all, and that’s cool. Comedy is very particular. Hard to tell if someone else will laugh at the same things you will.
I'll have to respectfully disagree wtih SuperDave's review of Goldmember. I saw it Friday at a private screening but it just wasn't as good as the first two. I'd rank them in order: 1, 2, 3
I agree with SuperDave on one major point: The film begins with one of the funniest introductions in years! DO NOT MISS THE OPENING! If you walk in late, you might as well go home and come back another day. But after the opening, things went downhill fast. It took a good 20 minutes of boredom and plot building to finally get up to speed. But once there, the film did not disappoint. It was groovy, baby, funny, hilarious.
But at the same time, I felt like a lot of the jokes were recyled from previous Power flicks (It looks like a big Johnson, a slew of middle school fart jokes, fat bastard, etc.). Although I gotta admit I was laughing so hard I was snorting during a fat bastard fart joke scene. I also felt cheated by the length; only 89 minutes from start to finish.
Beyonce ROCKS, definately the best "Austin girl" to date. Also, do not miss the end credits! Lots of funny stuff there too. It's definately worth a look, especially to see the amount of cameos...
I deleted a few spoilers there because it would be criminal to give them away before you see the film. Finally, there’s someone who just saw it at a student screening and got to talk to Jay Roach after, resulting in all sorts of news:
Just returned from a screening of Goldmember at USC (better than the last two Powers films in my opinion) which was followed by a Q&A with Jay Roach, two of his editors (Jon Poll, Greg Hayden), and a visual effects guy, whom at the moment I'm forgetting his name. I want to churn this stuff out while its still fresh, so I apologize if this seems rushed.
Meet the Fockers - Looks like this isn't going to happen anytime soon. Roach stated his uncertainty over how Meet the Parents could ever become a franchise. As of now it is nothing more than a somewhat clever title, and no script exists to my knowledge. However, Universal is shelling millions into making MtP a franchise, so expect something to happen eventually. My hope is that Roach will move on to better things than this, cause I agree, it seems like a pretty dead end concept.
Austin Powers 4 - Though initially Roach thought that Goldmember would the be final chapter in the series, Myers called him up just a couple of days ago brimming with new characters and ideas. Couple this with the more important fact that Goldmember has a runtime of only 89 minutes (with credits), will be a massive hit regardless of how funny you think it is (see MiB2 for financial reference, but NOT for quality reference), and you can assume that another one will be made. Considering the paths that each of the characters undergoes in this one, I can only hope that Myers calls the franchise quits and just leaves it as it is. Despite the open ending, there really aren't any more paths that the characters can take, and I honestly don't think it can be topped (you'll see why next week).
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Thank me for this one. Though the last tidbit I heard on this project was that Michael Gondry was mentioned to direct (he surely has fallen out by now, considering the dismal critical and financial success of Human Nature, and his creative investment in Glory of the Spotless Mind), Roach has reaffirmed that a new draft of the script is currently being written. In Roach's own words, he says that "quirky and expensive" isn't the type of thing studio's like to greenlight, regardless of the fanbase it has. Maybe Goldmember's grosses will help get this made.
Becoming Alfred - I've heard completely nothing about this project before, but it definately falls into the realm of cool news. Somebody towards the end of the forum asked the brilliant question of what "dream projects" would they like to see made. Immediately both editors and the special effects supervisor grinned in delight, and turned to Jay, asking about his screenplay. The details are really sketchy here, so hopefully some of the others who attended the screening can correct me here. It sounds extremely intriguing (mostly due to the reactions of the other three) and hopefully any details that you guys can provide could positively influence this project's path to becoming greenlit. Here are the raw, unrefined details:
It's actually a remake of a French movie entitled something along the lines of Le Total Heroe or something like that. I don't take French, so be warned. My friend just told me that he heard "Le Tour Royal." Harry man, you probably know what film he's talking about.
The screenwriter, let's call him "Charles MacKenzie" for now, wrote the screenplay (I'm not sure what the editors were talking about when they referred to it as "Jay's script", might have been something completely different).
The story revolves around three people at three different points in their lives. That's all he would give us. I am still intrigued (sp?), especially since Jay Roach was talking about wanting to do more character driven movies like Woody Allen does.
Yep, the details are vague, but that's the bulk of them, I don't believe I missed out anything crucial.
Again, all apologies for the obviously rushed and unplanned report. Maybe later I will report on the actual Q&A and the film itself (totally dug it, definately the best intro of all the films).
Just call me Spike Lee's Birth of a Nation
Thanks, everyone. Anyone else who’s seen it already, let’s get you to weigh in soon, eh?
"Moriarty" out.
