New 'Austin Powers': Bad move?

Mike Myers, whose disastrous last movie The Love Guru enraptured no one, is reportedly retreating to a safer formula: A fourth installment of Austin Powers spy spoof series, the first since 2002's Goldmember. Director Jay Roach says only that the international spy protagonist will travel "somewhere you haven't thought of." Is there any mystery left in the man of mystery?

Groovy, baby: After Mike Myers met "critical and commercial" failure with The Love Guru, "it's no surprise that Myers is going back to what he knows best," says a blogger at Sky Movies. Conveniently, the last movie left the plot open for followup: Expect to see Seth Green's character take over "the diabolical megalomaniacal throne" from his father, thus signifying a changing of the guard.

"Austin Powers 4 confirmed"

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It's not my bag, baby: "One problem," warns Josh Tyler at Cinema Blend: "Mike Myers is as out of jokes as the Austin Powers franchise is out of gas." Is there anything this movie could do that "won’t bore us to death?" My suggestion: Have the Powers character cede the movie to Dr. Evil. Then "maybe you’ll have something" that has a chance to win back fans.

"'Austin Powers 4' is still happening, and it's unimaginable"

We may get cross-mojulation: Bond has changed, so maybe Powers will, too, says CJ Stewart at The Celebrity Cafe. When Goldmember came out, "Pierce Brosnan was still on board as James Bond in the increasingly more ridiculous films in that series," but that's changed since. Daniel Craig delivers a "more serious, grittier Bond" that could well be more "hilarious" to satirize.

"'Austin Powers' may return in fourth film"