Even after The Love Guru, New Line is antsy for Myers to finish his latest. That long lost Sprockets movie? A Scottish Soccer Hooligan Weekly feature? Nope, Myers is going back to the well for a fourth Austin Powers installment.

I've always been a fan of Mike Myers, one of the few SNLers of his generation (or any other) to successfully jump to movies. Wayne's World somehow managed to stretch a ten-minute sketch without going stale, and the sorely underrated So I Married an Axe Murderer is still one of my favorites. But with Austin Powers he really hit his stride, giving what could have been a one-note character an actual plot to follow, with great supporting actors, sublimely silly gags, and a commitment to the insane persona (or, both of them) that made it all work.

So I was excited for The Spy Who Shagged Me. Even the first couple of times a gag was lifted beat-for-beat from the first movie, I laughed, a little; ha, sequels rip off originals, so true, good point. When I realized that that tin note was going to be hammered for the whole movie, I stopped laughing so much. The invention of Mini-Me was inspired, and brought the world the drunken magic of Verne Troyer (except now we're going to have to watch him on Hollywood Squares and reality TV until 2030). But Fat Bastard? Fine, the fat suit is a good first-time sight gag, but the more screen time he got, the worse the jokes got, and the more I thought, what the hell?

By the time Goldmember rolled around, I was officially out of the fan club. Beyonce in a big afro wig may be funny -- I guess -- but she has the comic timing of a glass eye, and the gags were getting way too close to gags. Why, oh why, did Goldmember have to eat his own dead skin? It was all the poop-'n'-puke laffs that had been there from the start, sure, but anything clever was gone.

The box office disagreed. Austin Powers made just $54 million domestically, The Spy Who Shagged Me $206 million, and Goldmember $213 million. So I guess it's no surprise that even though The Love Guru is in the process of bombing, New Line is ready for more bad teeth and poop jokes.

When people realized just how bad Guru was going to be, rumors swirled that Myers was living in a bubble, surrounded by yes men and out of touch with what's funny these days. Will he be able to pull off a return to greatness, or will Austin Powers 4 be more of the same?

Myers was on Conan O'Brien recently to promote The Love Guru, and even acting as himself he couldn't turn off his inner Fat Bastard. The bulk of the interview was about how he'd had diarrhea in a hotel bed. It got a laugh, sort of, a groaning half-laugh that died quick. I know Myers can make another great Austin Powers movie. Why is he shooting for groans?

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us