Review of Mystery Men (1999) by Mark M — 06 Aug 2011

Maybe it's no mystery how they did it, considering the aggregate comic talent, but this bunch achieves peaks of sublime nuttiness. One of those half-straight, half-spoof comic-book extravaganzas that don't ever work, and what's neat is that this one does--beautifully. The characters have been designed to make fun of themselves, disguising the craft of writer Neil Cuthbert and director Kinka Usher in getting us to laugh at them. They're a ragtag assembly for sure, and the results aren't pretty. But on a simple mission of entertainment, they get the job done. It's clever, amusing, clever, visually inventive, clever, well-cast .

VERDICT: "Matinée" - (Mixed reaction). These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says to pay matinée prices to see at a theatre, buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own.