Mystery Men Information

Mystery Men is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher, and written by Neil Cuthbert and Bob Burden, loosely based on Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics published by Dark Horse Comics. William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria star as a trio of lesser superheroes with unimpressive powers who are required to save the day.

Despite its list of stars Mystery Men made only $33,461,011 domestically and internationally, against a budget of $68,000,000.

Plot

In the fictional metropolis of Champion City, the would-be superhero team of Mr. Furious (Stiller), The Shoveler (Macy), and The Blue Raja (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, 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, Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum, outsmarts and captures Amazing, and prepares to unleash a doomsday device on the city, the "Psycho-frakulator", which lethally bends reality. Mr. Furious, while spying on Frankenstein's mansion, discovers Amazing's capture and informs the others.

The three realize they need more allies, and through word-of-mouth and try-outs, they recruit The Spleen (Paul Reubens), Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), 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 Dr. Heller (Tom Waits), who specializes in non-lethal weaponry, to equip them for their battle.

The group breaks into Casanova's mansion during a gathering of several of the city's gangs, but while attempting to free Captain Amazing, they inadvertently set off the Psycho-frakulator, killing him instead. Without Amazing, the team despairs that there is no way they can save the city, but the Shoveler delivers a pep-talk that succeeds in uniting and inspiring them. With new-found purpose, they assault the mansion, and by making effective use of their own negligible superpowers, and with the help of Heller's weapons, manage to subdue most of Frankenstein's henchmen. Unfortunately, as the heroes approach Frankenstein, he reveals that he is holding Mr. Furious' girlfriend hostage, and proceeds to activate the Psycho-frakulator, which begins to wreak havoc upon the city. While the team tries to stop the device, Mr. Furious takes on Frankenstein. After initially taking a beating, Mr. Furious unleashes his inner rage and manages to fight effectively for the first time. He defeats Frankenstein, who is thrown into the core of the Psycho-frakulator and killed by its reality-bending powers. The rest of the team helps the Bowler use her bowling ball to destroy the device, and escape the mansion as it implodes, killing several villains still inside.

As the film closes, the team is interviewed by reporters, begging to know what their team name is. As they argue amongst themselves, one reporter states "Well, whoever they are, Champion City owes a great debt of gratitude to these 'Mystery Men'," but the others are too busy arguing to hear it.

Cast

• Ben Stiller as Mr. Furious
• William H. Macy as The Shoveler
• Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja
• Kel Mitchell as Invisible Boy
• Paul Reubens as The Spleen
• Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler
• Wes Studi as The Sphinx
• Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein
• Eddie Izzard as Tony P.
• Prakazrel Michel as Tony C.
• Artie Lange as Big Red
• Lena Olin as Dr. Anabel Leek
• Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing/Lance Hunt
• Ricky Jay as Victor Weems
• Tom Waits as Dr. A. Heller
• Claire Forlani as Monica
• Dane Cook as The Waffler
• Doug Jones as Pencil Head
• Dana Gould as Squeegee Man
• Michael Bay and Riki Rachtman as Frat Boys
• Goodie Mob including Cee Lo Green as the "Not-So-Goodie Mob"

Soundtrack

• "The Mystery Men Mantra" " Mark Mothersbaugh
• "All Star" " Smash Mouth
• "Planet Claire" " B-52s
• "No More Heroes" " Violent Femmes (Originally by The Stranglers)
• "O Mio Babbino Caro" " Miriam Gauci (Composed by Giacomo Puccini)
• "Gangsters" " Citizen King (Originally by The Specials)
• "Who Are Those Mystery Men" " Kel and the M.A.F.T. Emcees featuring Romaine Jones

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 60% based on 101 reviews. Jonathan Romney said that it was "a desperately hit-and-miss affair". Michael Dequina of The Movie Report said that it "fails to come up with worthy gags and one-liners for the able cast". Steve Murray of Cox News Service gave it a negative review, saying "Mystery Men is like its hapless heroes. It's a wannabe that has the best intentions " including a pronounced anti-gun stance " but none of the knack it takes to save the day, or itself."

British television channel Film4 gave it a positive review, saying it was "Hugely entertaining " especially for those with a thing for superheroes."