Mystery Men

This movie puts the hero in superhero. A trio of friends have, for years, taken up crime fighting under the guises of The Shoveler, Captain Furious and The Blue Rajah. This, despite the fact that there is a resident superhero known as Captain Amazing. With the release of Casanova Frankenstein, the cities most feared super villain, and the subsequent disappearance of Amazing, it is up to this rag-tag trio to put together a group of people to defeat Frankenstein.

This movie has so many great actors in it, I find it utterly crazy that it was not bigger. This is a great movie based off a comic before Marvel stuck up their giant tent pole. Not that I am mad at Marvel, not in the least. If you are looking for a movie with superheros, humor and so many quotable lines, then look no further.

I saw "Mystery Men" on my birthday in 1999 while I was away on vacation. When I came back home, I went to see it again. Keep in mind, I was twelve, but at that time it was the coolest movie ever. I even collected the ultra-rare action figures (I have them all except for the Bowler, which is the hardest to find. They made Mr. Furious, The Shoveler, The Blue Raja, The Spleen and Captain Amazing, in case your wondering. There IS a William H. Macy action figure in existence!). I've watched it many times over the years and it still remains a favorite of mine, due mostly to fond childhood memories. It's not a perfect movie, but it definitely deserves another look and perhaps a cult following.

The story: a bunch of low-level superheroes save the day. This was executed again in the mediocre, direct-to-video "The Specials" as well. But this is the other end of the spectrum: big budget (huge budget, almost $100 Million I think) studio comedy. Yes, the effects are overblown and the huge sets and wonderful production design are a bit much considering the plot. But don't think this as a stupid, special effects-y superhero movie--it's a PARODY. They fight a villain named Cassanova Frankenstein, people. He has a psychofrakulator, whatever that is (it's a doomsday device, he'll take over the world, yada yada.) And resident superhero Captain Amazing (a Zapp Brannigan-esque Greg Kinnear, with commercial-product-logos on his costume, nice touch) is kidnapped. Time for the Mystery Men: Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller, gets mad), The Shoveller (William H. Macy, beats people with shovels), The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria, British, throws forks), The Bowler (Janeane Garafolo, bowls), Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell, guess what he does), The Spleen (the great Paul Reubens, farts), and The Sphinx (Wes Studi, cuts guns in half with his mind, I am not kidding). The rest of the fantastic cast of character actors includes Geoffrey Rush as Cassanova, Lena Olin heavily edited out as Cassanova's bride, and the one and only Tom Waits as a crazy weapons dealer. So...with Macy, Kinnear, Olin, and Rush there are four Oscar-nominees (and one winner) and Tom freakin' Waits! It's not perfect though. It's overlong and there are some gushes of corniness here and there (The Shoveller's full of them).

The dialogue definitely outweighs the physical comedy, which is sometimes lacking (there's a guy who farts for his power, case closed). The dialogue is definitely a highlight, the cyclical ramblings of the Sphinx, the mixed metaphors of Mr. Furious, etc. It's downright a funny movie, (it will almost make you forget that this was the film that let "All Star" by Smashmouth out into the world.)

Unfortunately, the film did not do as well with critics and audiences as it should have. A sequel was originally planned (the film is in fact based on a comic book and characters from "The Flaming Carrot" comics. The Flaming Carrot was planned for the sequel I believe) but this did not do well at the box office. It could have been a hard sell, a superhero comedy with the guy from "There's Something About Mary." It also could have been the fact that it was released on the same day as "The Sixth Sense"--which ended up being the biggest hit for the month of August--as well as "The Thomas Crown Affair." Two other misunderstood classics were released on the same crowded weekend, oddly enough--"Dick" and "The Iron Giant." Critics gave MM passable reviews, but it was quickly forgotten. Sadly enough, on Comedy Central's Roast of Jerry Stiller, comedian Jeffrey Ross commented to Ben Stiller that, "I saw 'Mystery Men' and I fired MY agent." Ben is then seen to mouth the words, "I should have to." Don't listen to him. Give "Mystery Men" a chance.

Looking at some of the reviews on here its clear that this movie did not find the audience it deserved at the time. In 1999 many people were simply not quite ready to understand a superhero movie which was based more or less in reality and was a send up of the genre. Anyone expecting a run of the mill superheroes with superpowers movie would be disappointed. However this is a much smarter movie in which we have average guys with alot of heart but zero abilities who try to fight crime with hilariously incompetent results. They are more likely to hurt each other than any criminals. These heroes dont have cool names, cool costumes and don't even have cool pretend powers. Another huge disappointment for the average comic book hero fan as whats the point if they cant do anything we cant? Watching this movie post Megamind, Deadpool, Watchmen and Kickass this movie makes total sense. What also seems to make sense is that every one of those movies, all seem to have borrowed heavily from Mystery Men. What you do get is a fantastic cast, laugh out jokes, crazy set pieces, many quotable lines all wrapped up in a fairly family friendly package. Think of this as a live action Megamind or PG version of Kickass. The story is quite straight forward but it does still make fun of the usual comic book tropes in a fresh way. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed any of the movies I compared Mystery Men to, you will wonder why you had previously let this one slip by and also just how many of the current crop of "original" and "smarter" comic book movies have ripped off Mystery Men? Deserves to be seen.

With a different director, this coulda been a contender. It is a flawed masterpiece (that's right, I said the word 'masterpiece' in conjunction with this film). Despite some dodgy editing alongside a director known for making commercials (and it shows!), it actually has many ingenious concepts. The idea that Champion City's most successful superhero is obsessed with his own celebrity and is therefore portrayed as a bad guy ties in perfectly with the anti-capitalist themes in the film. The problems arise when the style of comedy reaches juvenile level, and though at times that brand of humour is funny there is perhaps a little too much of it. There are, however, many hilarious moments, some of which are incredibly subtle for such an 'in your face' production. For example, when Captain Amazing is complaining to his agent about losing his pepsi endorsement he talks about what it means to him, in his heart, and he promptly hits his chest where his heart would be only to hear the hollow sound of his suit's exterior. Pure anti-capitalism! Finally, a mention of the cast. The film has a wonderful cast: Ben Stiller, Bill Macy, Hank Azaria, Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush, Jeanne Garofalo, Eddie Izzard, Paul (Pee-wee Herman) Reubens and, best of all, the deep-voiced singing legend that is Tom Waits. So, a masterpiece? a silly but funny superhero spoof? or a superhero spoof that is unsure what it really wants to be? It is rather open to interpretation but one thing is for sure, it's funny!

Forget depth of meaning, leave your logic at the door, and have a great time with this maniacally funny, totally absurdist, ultra-campy live-action "cartoon". MYSTERY MEN is a send-up of every superhero flick you've ever seen, but its unlikely super-wannabes are so interesting, varied, and well-cast that they are memorable characters in their own right. Dark humor, downright silliness, bona fide action, and even a touching moment or two, combine to make this comic fantasy about lovable losers a true winner. The comedic talents of the actors playing the Mystery Men -- including one Mystery Woman -- are a perfect foil for Wes Studi as what can only be described as a bargain-basement Yoda, and Geoffrey Rush as one of the most off-the-wall (and bizarrely charming) villains ever to walk off the pages of a Dark Horse comic book and onto the big screen. Get ready to laugh, cheer, and say "huh?" more than once.... enjoy!