A review by John Beachem
* * * *
CAST Ben Stiller - Mr. Furious William H. Macy - The Shoveler Hank Azaria - Blue Raja Janeane Garofalo - The Bowler Greg Kinnear - Captain Amazing Geoffrey Rush - Cassanova Frankenstein Kel Mitchell - Invisible Boy Paul Reubens - The Spleen West Studi - The Sphinx
Imagine a city where superheroes are a dime a dozen. They're all over the place, crowding the costume shops and karate stores; tripping over each other in an attempt to make a name for themselves. Unfotunately, all these superheroes are also godawful at their jobs. This is the basic premise behind the very amusing comic book superhero spoof "Mystrey Men". With an all star cast, an often hilarious script, and great visuals, this is one of the few truly good satires in recent memory.
Captain Amazing, Champion City's protector, has a problem. His funding is slowly being cut by all the major companies which sponsor his crime fighting. This is because he has captured or killed all the real super villains, and is now reduced to fighting street punks. In an effort to revive his dwindling career, he arranges for the release of his old nemesis, Cassanova Frankenstein. His intention is to fight the villain in a climactic battle and win back support. However, there's one small flaw in his plan. Frankenstein is brilliant, and Amazing is a moron. Captured by Cassanova, Amazing's only hope lies with a group of superhero wannabes. Mr. Furious, who seems to have the power to get really mad; The Shoveler, who hits people with his shovel (imagine that) Blue Raja, who throws forks with deadly accuracy; Invisible Boy, who is only invisible if no one looks at him; The Bowler, who throws a bowling ball filled with her father's skull; The Sphinx, who speaks like a rather dumbed down version of Yoda; and The Spleen, who is an expert with, umm, gas. The motley band attempts to free the real superhero, while making some sort of name for themselves.
For a long time, I was quite a comic book fan. I collected just about every comic imaginable. However, there were certain things in them which always rather bothered me. For example, why couldn't anyone tell that Clark Kent and Superman were one and the same? Mystery Men covers that in a very amusing discussion the heroes have while in a diner. The movie does, in fact, take so much glee in poking fun at comic book styple heroes, that some of the gags run on a bit too long. The Spleen, for instance, gets a little annoying by the film's end. However, most of the humor is right on target, such as when the heroes are creating their new costumes.
As for the acting, from a cast like this one expects the best, and in this case, receives the best. All the actors appear to be having an absolute blast with their roles. Hank Azaria was my absolute favorite as the Blue Raja, speaking in a hilarious English accent, and constantly attempting to explain why he has one when his name and costume are obviously Indian. The rest of the cast are uniformly great, each character having odd litle quirks which never failed to make the audience laugh uproariously. The only character who never really seemed to find his niche was Invisible Boy, who basically sat in the background through most of the film.
If you don't care for spoofs, don't see this movie. If you don't like comic books, you might not enjoy this. Otherwise, try and catch "Mystery Men". It's one of the best entries into the genre in recent memory, and earns four stars.
* * * * * - One of the greatest movies ever made, see it now. * * * * - Great flick. Try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad. See it if you've got nothing better to do. * - One of the worst movies ever. See it only if you enjoy pain.
E-mail with comments at: JABII@aol.com
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