Austin Powers In Goldmember

Austin grows on you. At first, he was silly. Then he was gross. Now, he's a good chap who makes schoolboy jokes and can't be trusted with underdressed bimbettes.

Mike Myers has not exactly come of age, but feels entirely comfortable in his many guises. Austin is a Sixties throwback, reliving a James Bond fantasy. His teeth are too big and his clothes would not disgrace Carnaby Street in its hideous heyday. When he opens his mouth, inane plonkerisms issue forth, not that he notices, being immune to embarrassment.

Dr Evil minces about in a grey Mao suit, squirming on throne-like chairs, with his pinkie poised at the lip, trying desperately to appear villainous. His midget clone, Mini-Me (Verne Troyer), dances around him, like an intoxicated goblin, while his son, Scott (Seth Green), will say/do anything cruel and despicable to attract daddy's attention.

Fat Bastard is an overweight, foul-mouthed Scot, whose lavatorial sense of humour knows no bounds, and Goldmember, a freckled Dutch maniac, with disabled genitalia, has hatched a devilish plot to threaten the world with a maverick asteroid, entirely under his control.

The plot beggars belief and having begged moves on. Michael Caine plays Austin's dad in a wig that makes him look like David Mellor after a night of Chelsea strippage. His presence is to be applauded.

Beyonce Knowles from Destiny's Child takes the Heather Graham/Liz Hurley role of resident totty and pulls it off - not literally - with panache.

There are non-PC facial disfigurement jokes, anti-Holland jibes and a host of vulgarities, all of which are entirely innocent. The Queen adds gravitas to the farce of Austin's knighthood ceremony and just about everyone who is anyone in showbiz - Tom Cruise, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny DeVito, Nathan Lane, Britney Spears, Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach, Steven Spielberg, Ozzy Osbourne - has an itsty bitsy cameo.

"You have the right to remain sexy," the gorgeous undercover cop says, attempting an arrest.

"I hope there is a search involved," Austin snickers.

Boom! Boom!