The other day, I was wondering if Mike Myers was ever going to make a third Austin Powers picture. Then I realized I had totally forgotten about “Austin Powers in Goldmember” (2002). And this was Beyonce’s first big movie role! Forgettable!?! It’s not terrible, it’s just overkill. Too much of everything. Too many characters being played by Myers (You’re talented. We get it. Enough already.). Too many cameos (Ozzy Osbourne). Too many jokes ripping off jokes from the previous two films (to the point they felt the need to make fun of the fact they were doing it). It’s tiresome.
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Unpredictability is a key element of humor. Part of the problem with comedy sequels is that you know most of the jokes already. “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” (1999) is like listening to a greatest hits album. It’s well crafted and true to the first installment of the spy-sendup franchise, but that’s also the problem. You want some new stuff, too. And that’s another problem. Heather Graham is great as Austin’s American counterpart but the Fat Bastard and Mini Me characters are so creepy and get so many scenes, it makes the whole thing predictable AND kinda gross.
All of us who live in the South know that hot, sticky days make one a little out of sorts. So imagine how an Englishman might feel in Jamaica in the 1800s, before the advent of HVAC. “Wide Sargasso Sea” (1993) explores this topic, perhaps unintentionally. It tries to get romantic and mystical and even a little sociopolitical as we witness arranged marriages, witchcraft and the aftermath of emancipation. But at its core, the story is Limeys Can’t Take the Heat. Otherwise, how can you explain not being happy with a free plantation, a beautiful woman and an island paradise?
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