Mystery Men (1999) Reviewed by Christian Pyle Directed by Kinka Usher Written by Neil Cuthbert (based on a comic book series by Bob Burden) Starring Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Paul Reubens, Ben Stiller, Greg Kinnear, and Geoffrey Rush Grade: D+
It's tough to be an aspiring superhero in Champion City. Just ask Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria), and The Shoveler (William H. Macy). They're trying to break into the biz, but Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), the city's hero numero uno, hogs all the action. The good captain has his own problems. Because he's all but eliminated crime, Amazing's endorsement deals are falling through. The public craves a major slugfest, so Amazing engineers the parole of his one-time arch enemy Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). Frankenstein succeeds beyond expectations; he captures Capt. Amazing before setting out on his scheme to destroy the city.
So, no one is left to save the day but our would-be superheroes, but their abilities are more "little league" than "Justice League." The Raja hurls forks at foes, the Shoveler hits them with a shovel, and Mr. Furious just yells at people (Stiller is doing essentially the same character he played in a guest appearance on "Friends"). After a painful first strike, the guys hold auditions for teammates and add The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), who carries her dead father's skull in her bowling ball; Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), who can only use his powers when no one is looking at him; The Spleen (Paul Reubens), who blows devastating winds from his rear; and The Sphinx (Wes Studi), a mysterious figure who will teach them to fight.
"Mystery Men" boasts one of the most talented and eclectic casts ever assembled. In addition to those already mentioned, the credits include Lena Olin as Frankenstein's evil shrink, comedian Eddie Izzard and the Fugees' Prakazrel Michel as disco-themed thugs, singer Tom Waits as an inventor of superhero weapons, Artie Lange (from "MAD TV") as another thug, Claire Forlani (from "Meet Joe Black") as a waitress Mr. Furious is pursuing, Louise Lasser (from "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman") as the Blue Raja's mother, and actor/magician Ricky Jay as Capt. Amazing's manager. The cast includes four Oscar-nominated actors! When I saw the list of players early last year, I figured the result would be a can't-miss comedy.
Yet, I must report disappointment. The script is probably the worst of 1999. Nearly every joke misfires. The stabs at comic books are too obvious to be funny. (For example, no one can recognize Capt. Amazing in his secret identity because he's wearing glasses.) The fart jokes surrounding the Spleen are surprisingly the only gags that work. The cast tries hard, especially Hank Azaria, whose character adopts an effete British accent while in costume, but the script is just too lame to run.
Bottom line: Best left a mystery
© 2000 Christian L. Pyle
Read my reviews and others at the Mad Review: http://www.madreview.com/main.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews