Okay, so there's nothing particularly fresh or exciting here, that much we knew going in. After all, the first sequel, SPY WHO SHAGGED ME was already faithfully retrying every joke from the original, why change now? I think this one works a little better than number two (in the series, not Robert Wagner's character), for a few reasons, although it's still just a fairly limp copy of the first.

This latest Powers offering has our Randy hero off to the rescue of his estranged father, Britain's original superspy Nigel Powers, played wonderfully by Michael Caine in a performance that makes the movie a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise. Captured by Doctor Evil in cahoots with a roller-skating Dutch villain called Goldmember, for exactly the reason you might suspect, the senior Powers is hidden away in 1975, apparently because since time-travel was used in the LAST movie, they felt they had to do it again here. Also, however, the filmmakers probably realized that they'd pretty much stripmined the sixties kitsch for all the jokes it was worth, and wanted a fresh decade to plumb for material.

Travelling to the 70's, Austin dons his best pimp-suit and meets up with old flame Foxy Cleopatra (Destiny's Child Beyonce Knowles in her acting debut), a sexy and sassy heroine who does blaxploitation with the best of them. And although I did sort of miss Heather Graham this time around, Foxy managed to win me over pretty quick. Together they chase Goldmember to the present and discover his plan, along with Doctor Evil and his usual crew of misfits including Mini-Me and son Scott Evil (Verne Troyer and Seth Green), to crash a massive gold meteor into the polar icecaps.

All plot is, of course, window dressing here. No one comes to an Austin Powers movie for the action and drama, they're along for the cheap laughs, baby! And they shan't be disappointed. Celebrity cameos abound, some are less blatant than others thankfully, and all your favourite jokes from the other movies are back for another round. Even Fat Bastard manages a few scenes, possibly even outgrossing his bits from the first movie, if that's possible.

Knowles and Caine turn out to be pretty shrewd additions to the cast, as they manage to inject some new life into what is rapidly becoming a dangerously tired franchise. The Austin Powers gag really didn't HAVE three movies worth of material to it, and the end of the rope, if it hasn't been reached with this outing, is well and surely in sight. If you're a die-hard fan of the films, and just can't stop laughing every time some co-worker tells you 'oh, be-HAVE!', then you'll love GOLDMEMBER no questions asked. And it does have it's original charms, I'll grant. But it's starting to feel like time for Myers to direct his comedic energies somewhere else at long last. You had a good run, Mikey, but move along while the gettin's good. Make a nice Hockey picture or something. And let Austin and Doctor Evil be remembered for the good times, rather than as good jokes that were beaten into lifelesness after one too many dips into the well.

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