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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 13313
Released: January 11, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.00 |
| Used Price: $1.24 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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
Mystery Men Reviews:
You must lash out with every limb, like the octopus who plays the drums 
2008-07-22 - Mystery Men is a tale of wannabe superheroes in the shadow of Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), who has cleaned up Champion City so well that he needs Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) to be released from the insane asylum so he'll have someone to battle (his publicist insists that he must do something spectacular to appease his advertisers). Greg is great as the smarmy Captain with an insincere toothpaste grin (what there is of him before he gets fried in a psychofrakulater).
The sudden departure of the Captain makes room for the Mystery Men to save Champion City from the evil Casanova Frankenstein. With a great cast of character actors and comedians, you'd think this movie would be funny, but director Kinka Usher is not up to the task. Though you have Simpson's voice whiz Hank Azaria playing The Blue Raja (who hurls silverware), Ben Stiller as rageholic Mr. Furious, Janeanne Garofalo as The Bowler (with her father's skull embedded in the bowling ball)--not to mention Tom Waits, Paul Reubens, Ricky Jay, Wes Studi, and Eddie Izzard, the film has its moments, but it never lives up to its potential. Janeanne Garofalo soon grows tiresome with her usual shtick, though her dialogue with her father's skull is sometimes amusing, and one scene where she gives an impromptu speech about independent film is brilliant. Director Kinka Usher had her improvise to fill time but ended up using the footage, as it was way better than anything the writers came up with. As inept but earnest superheroes, William H. Macy is the only one who scores as The Shoveller, while the twisted genius of Paul Reubens is wasted as a rotten toothed and pustule faced character called The Spleen whose super power is flatulence.
The Shoveller: Come on, somebody do something, we need him.
The Bowler: Okay. Okay, you're a very furious man, you understand that?
Mr. Furious: No.
The Bowler: No? Well you've got a lot to be furious about, and I'll tell you why: You're not well-liked. You're uh, you're abrasive and off- putting. You try and say pithy things, but your wit is a hindrance and therefore nothing is provocative. Just mixed metaphors. Now, doesn't that make you angry? Does it infuriate you?
Mr. Furious: No.
The Bowler: Well, it should. Aren't you angry? Come on, man!
The Shoveller: Your penmanship is atrocious!
The Sphinx: You dress in the manner of a male prostitute!
Reality Bites (10th Anniversary Edition) (1994) .... Ben Stiller was yuppie Michael Grates, vying for the affections of Winona Ryder against rival slacker Ethan Hawke. Janeanne Garofalo was gal pal Vickie Miner.
There's Something About Mary (1998) .... Ben Stiller plays Ted Stroehmann opposite Carmen Diaz.
Boogie Nights (1997) .... Little Bill was played by William H. Macy.
Fargo (1996) .... William H. Macy was Jerome 'Jerry' Lundegaard.
Shine (1996) .... Geoffrey Rush played piano whiz David Helfgott as an Adult.
Quills (2000) .... Who better to portray The Marquis de Sade than Geoffrey Rush?
Wonderland (2003) .... Janeanne Garofalo was Joy Miller in this bio of John Holmes starring Val Kilmer.
The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996) .... Garofalo was Abby the Vet with a call-in radio show in this surprisingly good romcom.
Auto Focus (2002) .... Greg Kinnear played Hogan's Hero, Bob Crane, in this gritty murder mystery based on Crane's untimely death.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) .... Greg shines as the uptight and obsessively optimistic Richard Hoover
The Sphinx (Wes Studi): You must lash out with every limb, like the octopus who plays the drums.
Mystrey Men HD-DVD 
2008-06-04 - Fun movie - great price - movie came ahead of estimated delivery time, what else can you ask for. Love shopping at Amazon
A Fun Sci-Fi/Comic book/Comedy
2008-03-28 - 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).
Mystery Stars
2008-03-15 - 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?
under rated comedy 
2007-12-30 - 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.
