Review of Mystery Men (1999) by Matthew B — 05 Jan 2016

In the metropolis of Champion City, the would-be superhero team of Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), The Shoveler (William H. Macy), and The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria) attempt to make a name for themselves, but their suspect skills make them ineffective, and they find themselves upstaged by the city's most successful superhero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). However, Amazing is finding that his effectiveness at fighting crime has practically made his job obsolete, and without any worthy adversaries remaining (some of them are either dead, in exile, or still in jail), his corporate sponsors are beginning to pull their funding. To create a need for himself, Amazing uses his alter ego, billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of insane supervillain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). The plan backfires; once reunited with Tony P (Eddie Izzard) and his Disco Boys, Casanova Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum, captures Amazing, and prepares to unleash a doomsday device: the "Psycho-frakulator", which lethally bends reality. Mr. Furious, while spying on Casanova Frankenstein's mansion, discovers Amazing's capture and informs the others. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the three realize they need more allies, and through word-of-mouth and try-outs, they recruit Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), The Spleen (Paul Reubens), and The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo). The newly formed team "assaults" Casanova, which only succeeds in annoying him and damaging his car. While drunk from celebrating their victory, the team is nearly killed in retaliation by Tony P and the Disco Boys, but they are saved at the last minute by The Sphinx (Wes Studi). The Sphinx trains them, but his methods annoy Mr. Furious - he has them complete rote team-building exercises and speaks exclusively in platitudes. They also seek out mad scientist Doc Heller (Tom Waits), who specializes in non-lethal weaponry, to equip them for their battle...

Back in 1999 the superhero genre wasn´t exploited the way it has been the past years, so I reckon "Mystery Men" filled that void and longing to see superheros on the screen. Well, not maybe the normal sort of superhero, but something more along the line of Kick-Ass and not The Avengers. Nevertheless, this spoof/parody of the superhero genre filled with both comedians and more serious actors goes full on with everything, but at the same time fails to find its own entity within the comic genre. The mix of comic features, darkness, drama and romance never manages to be packaged together in a satisfying way. Yes, the idea of believing in yourself and you will be able to succeed with anything you want is ok. Classic theme. So in the end for one shining moment, Mystery Men really become super-heroes and saves the day. Not a big surprise to say the least. The acting is very varied despite a big ensemble cast, the editing is choppy, the cinematography is way too 90s and the special effects are not up to scratch. And the lovely Claire Forlani isn´t given much to work with. "Mystery Men" is a product of the 90s and it shows, and I was a bit disappointed to re-see it again as I remembered it to be a bit better than it was. Trivia: The Mystery Men were the supporting cast of an underground superhero comic book called the Flaming Carrot. Mr. Furious and the Shoveler were the only ones from the comic to make it into the movie. Captain Amazing was created as a replacement for the Flaming Carrot, who was felt to be too bizarre to bring to the silver screen.