Mystery Men (1999)

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 gigs and 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 Amazon.com

Mystrey Men HD-DVD

Fun movie - great price - movie came ahead of estimated delivery time, what else can you ask for. Love shopping at Amazon June 4, 2008

A Fun Sci-Fi/Comic book/Comedy

In a few sentence review: This is a fun movie good for a rainy day or lazy weekend afternoon. You will enjoy the banter between the characters and find the film quite humorous, but do not expect to actually laugh out loud much. (I didn't at all).


For the film reference buff:
It is sure to please fans of any of the notable stars of the film: Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Paul Reubens, Janeane Garofalo, Kel Mitchell (of All That on Nickelodeon in the mid-90's),Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Waits, Eddie Izzard and Artie Lange. Even Dane Cook and Praz from the Fugees are in it. All cast members do a fine job of portraying their respected characters.

The director, Kinka Usher, this was his first and only directed movie. He is most famous for his direction of the "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" commercials.

For cinematography junkies:
The art direction was superb. The costumes were perfectly ridiculous. The city was dark and gritty. I particularly enjoyed the scenes of "Champion City" as it was called. This includes set design similar to most Sci-Fi movies, however it seems I just can't get enough of it. The idea to throw in other languages on billboards throughout the city was also quite clever, particularly the choice of languages: English, Hindi, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese. These are some of the most widely spoken languages today (by number of speakers).

March 28, 2008

Mystery Stars

Mystery Men is a weird, off-beat comedy not unlike the strange 80's classic, Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Want-to-be heroes try to make their way up to the popular status of fictional Champion City's current hero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinear), an endorsement-clad, ego enhanced crime fighter. What are really interesting are the appearances of actors (of such caliber as Geoffrey Rush (Casanova Frankenstein) and artist such as Gnarls Barkley (singer of the pop hit "Crazy"), comedian Dane Cook (Waffle Man), and director Michael Bay (one of the Frat Boys). Who knew? March 15, 2008

under rated comedy

I think this is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. You'll especially enjoy the fun poked at super heroes and comic books if you grew up reading them as I did. December 30, 2007

Spleen spillting fun!

I love this movie! It is just so much fun!!! I love the acting...what a great cast!!! If you didn't like it, watch it again! Just plain fun! December 16, 2007

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