Austin Powers in Goldmember

The first Austin Powers was a scream, even if it took a while for people to catch on. The second was a colossal dud. Better forgive and forget, because this is a laugh riot from minute one, a gobsmackingly confident post-mod pop-pourri which puts Myers on a par with Peter Sellers at his peak. Like the Bonds, this series takes narrative as read. Instead, it revels in riffs and variations on familiar themes, mostly revolving around what Powers Sr (Caine) calls Austin's 'gigglestick'. Myers' MO may be ridiculous, but his issues are anything but sublimated: dick size, performance anxiety and parental approval generally get his mojo working. The joke is, we're in on the joke. Add to this his polycultural frames of reference: a first-generation Canadian of British parentage who lives and works in Hollywood, Myers affectionately parodies everything from Godzilla movies to '70s blaxploitation (Knowles holds her end up as Foxxy Cleopatra); Dr Evil and Mini Me (the estimable Troyer) perform a prison HipHop rap to a tune from Annie; Fat Bastard turns up as a sumo wrestler; and Goldmember himself (Myers again) is a Dutch rollerdisco despot with flaky skin and a thing for smelting. Yeah, baby, it's sketchy, crude and hit-hit-hit or miss, but global domination can't be far behind.