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Ever wonder if there was a class system in the world of superheroes? After all the big names like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc., who were the supporting players? The folks assigned to the less-than-stellar gigs of saving only a small part of the world? According to this intermittently successful send-up of comic book heroism, there are indeed masked heroes who struggle and toil for their moment in the super sun. Based on the Dark Horse comic book series,Mystery Men follows the travails of three B-list avengers--Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the Shoveler (William H. Macy), and the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria)--as they fight to make themselves known to the citizens of Champion City, quite difficult to do when the flashy Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear, never better) takes all the cool gigsand has product endorsements up the ying-yang. According to them, it's all a matter of timing--never mind that Mr. Furious never rises above a snit, or that the Blue Raja wears green. Their big break comes when Captain Amazing is abducted by the evil Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), and it's up to this motley crew to save Champion City.
Blessed with a wondrously gifted comic cast and full of droll details,Mystery Men struggles in fits and spurts towards its climax. Transcendently witty in parts, it's also woefully sophomoric in others. Literally, this is the kind of movie in which someone gets off a brilliant line and then sits on a fork. Still, when this movie is rolling, it's gleefully on target, thanks primarily to the mordantly cocky Stiller and Janeane Garofalo as a latecomer to the superhero gang; her secret weapon is a bowling ball in which her dead father's head is encased. The comic chemistry between these two is fierce, and when you add the dryly funny Macy and the endearing Azaria (who finally gets a chance to let loose with his comic gifts), it's a hilarious joyride. Too bad that the gas tank is only half-full; this stunning cast deserves a first-rate vehicle. With Tom Waits as a weapons expert, Claire Forlani as the requisite babe, and Paul Reubens as the Spleen, the world's most flatulent superhero.--Mark Englehart
Mystery Men The movie is about these three guys that want to be professional crime fighters, but nobody takes them seriously. Meanwhile, the city's best super hero, Captain Amazing, is kidnapped by his arch nemesis, so it's up to the Mystery Men to save him. The Mystery Men recruit four more unlikely heroes in their quest to save Captain Amazing. Ben Stiller, Greg Kinnear, and Janeane Gerofalo were hillarious in this movie as well as the rest of the cast. The movie does tend to fall into a lot redundant super hero cliches at the end, and the story can often get a bit too ridiculious. Overall, this movie is one of the best parody super hero films I've seen yet. And how can I forget Paul Reubens' character THE SPLEEN?! I swear, Paul "Pee-Wee" Reubens has never made me laugh harder. His character in this film could be a CULT FILM HERO! LONG LIVE THE SPLEEN!
Don't take it too serious Just like any comedy you can't take things to mental. Think of it in terms of a Superhero version of Napoleon Dynomite, Better off Dead, or Strange Brew. Just a story of some misfits trying to find their place in the world, and in the process not screw it up too bad. If you go into it looking for a Lord of the Rings, Batman type story where the world is normal with these few laughs mixed in you are in the wrong place. This is bizarroland. Always something odd going on in every corner of the movie. Right from the start it throws you into the oddest scene in the movie, an old persons party, with syncronized power wheelchairs, and blue haired old grannys. It starts to normalize (if you can call it that) as the movie goes on. The would be hero's are frustrated that their powers are second rate, but they believe in each other, and in what they are doing. Not saving the world, but saving their corner of the block. Thier eyes are on the prize of the big save. It was great.The Mystery is Where is the Funny? This movie completely blows chunks. I didn't laugh once. Yes I got the little innuendoes and the childish banter - but this movie was a complete waste of time and completely dry. Don't get it. If you got it - burn it. Besides, any movie with Janeane Garofalo sucks anyway.
