Rating: 
Summary: Second Stringers Shine
Review: When Batman debuted on the silver screen in 1989, it offered a dark, brooding vision of the classic caped crimefighter. Since then, the public perception of comic books has taken a darker turn as well. Enter the Mystery Men. This quirky little comedy comes along and lightens the mood, freshens the air, and makes superheroes fun again.Set in the mythical Champion City, Mystery Men tells the story of three wannabe heroes who want to use their powers to help stop crime. The problem is, the city already has a hero, a golden boy called Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear, You've Got Mail) who dispatches the bad guys and gives product endorsements. When Amazing's arch-nemesis Cassanova Frankenstein (Geoffery Rush, Shakespeare in Love) captures the hero, the wannabe heroes take it upon themselves to devise a plan to save the city's protector. Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), The Shoveler (William H. Macy), and Blue Raja (Hank Azaria, Godzilla) decide to enlist the help of other super-powered beings. So like a weird, costumed version of The Magnificent Seven, they begin to gather a team, including Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), Spleen (Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman), and The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo). As heroes, some of these draftees are lacking. Spleen, for example, has the disgusting power to knock out villains with his tremendous gas. And while Blue Raja (who throws forks) and The Shoveler use rather odd devices for justice, none are more strange than The Bowler, who uses a magical bowling ball imbedded with the skull of her late father. What makes the story so wonderful are the weaknesses that make each of the heroes so uniquely human. Captain Amazing, despite his powers, frets over the loss of a Pepsi endorsement. Blue Raja still lives at home with his mother and must hide his "secret" life. Such problems are so ordinary, so un-super, that it makes the characters sympathetic and not pathetic. Although Mystery Men is a comedy, no one told the characters to be funny. We laugh because they take themselves so seriously. Whether it is The Shoveler who implores his wife for understanding about his need to use his "gift of shoveling," or Mr. Furious who squeezes a ball repeatedly in an effort to direct his anger away from his boss, the characters are living a difficult life that we can all - to some extent - relate to. Yet, the situation is so absurd we start laughing at the notion. There are many great comedians in Mystery Men, so it seems odd that the best performance is given by the straight man in the group. Macy, who has delighted audiences with roles in Pleasantville and A Civil Action, turns in another top-notch showing as The Shoveler. While the other characters are strangely over-the-top at times, The Shoveler is always a simple working man, an everyman. Even though he plays it straight, Macy gets some of the best lines in the movie, and performs some inspired moves with his tool of the trade. Mystery Men hits every comic book cliche and hammers it home. There are some dazzling special effects, plenty of non-lethal gadgets for catching the bad guys, and -- of course -- a crazy scientist (Tom Waits) who makes them. Thrown into the mix are a number of inside jokes for the comic book crowd, lampooning everything from origin stories to secret identities. Despite its strange humor, Mystery Men delivers a good message. Each of the heroes is little more than a second-rate imitator, but -- because they work together -- they do make a difference. It's enough to make us believe in heroes once more.
Rating: 
Summary: Few laughs, little interest, no raves.
Review: I rented this movie on DVD a couple of nights ago with high hopes of being entertained, unfortunately, I was disappointed. In spite of the strong cast (Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Paul Reubens, Ben Stiller, Greg Kinnear, Tom Waits just to name a few), the movie was basically a big bore with a few amusing moments mixed in. It starts out with three less-than-super would-be heroes trying to save the day only to have their clocks cleaned and rescued by Champion City's resident hero. Where do you go from there? You could have gone to a lot of funny and/or interesting places, but the movie makers decided to do neither. This rag-tag trio puts out the word they are looking for help and become an even bigger rag-tag troup of losers. The most interesting of the heroes is Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler and her magical bowling ball weapon powered by her murdered fathers skull. Although they do save the day in the end, you couldn't care less. The premise is interesting, but it was hopelessly mangled with a bad script. Its a mystery no one stopped them before they got this far. The DVD has a lot of deleted scenes in the special features, but they are about as interesting as the rest of the movie. Maybe they should have deleted the whole thing. Rent this movie first before you think about buying it.
Rating:
Summary: We're not your classic heros. We're the other guys.
Review: Being acutely familiar with the source material for this film as I collected many a comic book in my youth, I thought Mystery Men (1999) did a really good job staying close to its' roots. Based on characters created by Bob Burden and showcased within the pages of his 'Flaming Carrot' comic book, Mystery Men highlights those 'not so super' super heroes, the blue collar ones that don't necessarily have the most spectacular powers, but seem to share a desire to protect their fellow man against evil and it's minions. The film has a pretty impressive ensemble cast including Ben Stiller as Mr. Furious, William H. Macy as The Shoveller, Janeane Garolafo as The Bowler, Paul Rubens as The Spleen, Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja, Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing, and Geoffery Rush as the villain Casanova Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Claire Forlani, Lena Olin, Tom Waits, Eddie Izzard, Artie Lange, and Louise Lassiter. The story involves the kidnapping of Capitol City's most popular hero, Captain Amazing (Kinnear) by Casanova Frankenstein, and a small group of less than stellar heroes attempting to rescue him while thwarting the villain's evil scheme to subjugate the city to his will. The core group, consisting of Mr. Furious (his rage is boundless), The Shoveller (he shovels better than anyone), and The Blue Raja (flinger of cutlery), realize they don't have the numbers to go up against Casanova and his gang, so they have a recruitment drive and enlist the aid of The Bowler, whose bowling ball is imbued with the spirit (along with the skull) of her deceased father, Invisible Boy (who can only turn invisible when no one is watching), The Spleen (whose powers involve the ability to produce flatulence and direct it with precision accuracy), and The Sphinx (Wes Studi), whose main power seems to be the ability to produce a conundrum for any situation . Also they acquire some very interesting non-lethal weaponry from a local mad scientist Dr. A Heller (Tom Waits) to assist them in their mission. The production values in the movie are really wonderful, creating beautifully detailed sets and serve well to create a comic book atmosphere that fit the story well. I was impressed with the director's ability to focus on the core characters just enough to provide the appropriate background, while keeping the secondary characters in the loop. There was a lot going on in the film, so I think this was quite a juggling act. A lot of the humor was tongue in cheek, sort of spoofing the image of the classic superhero, and doing so in a good-natured way. Some of the humor is crude, and the movie does get a little bogged down in silliness at times, but the actors all seemed to have a lot of fun putting forth their performances, and it comes through. There are a ton of special features available, from deleted scenes, production notes, a history of the Mystery Men from their comic book origins, biographies, a commentary track with the director, recommendations, musical highlights from the film, and more. The deleted scenes are worth checking out as I think they weren't so much removed from the film due to the poor quality of the scenes, but probably a desire to trim the running time of the movie as it is at two hours as released. I probably wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone, but if you have an odd side to your sense of humor, and can appreciate a somewhat subversive look into the world of super heroes, then you may enjoy this film. I you liked this film I would also recommend The Specials (2000), another super hero movie of sorts, with a similar skewed view and a wry sense of humor. Cookieman108
Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF 1999
Review: This is one of the best movies ever I could not believe how good
It was It was much better than A Beautiful Mined and Pearl Harbor it is a must buy. #28
Rating:
Summary: It ain't Shakespeare --
Review: -- so, just sit back and enjoy it! Original, very funny andentertaining movie about a group of superhero-wannabes who bandtogether to save their city's real, yet commercially-sponsored,superhero (Greg Kinnear) from the clutches of the evil Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) and his Bee Gees-loving henchmen. Led by The Shoveler (William H. Macy)and Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the "Mystery Men" -- a misnomer since the group's person with any real powers is a woman (Janeane Garofalo at her sarcastic best)-- team up with a non-lethal weapons expert (Tom Waits) to save their city. Some really funny moments and memorable lines, especially from the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria), the "British" superhero who doesn't have a shred of blue in his outfit, and the "terribly mysterious" Sphnix ("Dances with Wolves'" Wes Studi). I would have loved to seen more development of Invisible Boy's (Kel Martin) character -- no pun intended -- but less of scenes like Spleen's (Paul Reubens) encounter with the skunk. The movie's message is obvious -- we identify with these heroes because they represent who we are. Bottom line -- rent it first, because you'll either love it or hate it. If ya love it, I'm sure Amazon can hook you up. If not, then take comfort that there are worse movies you could've rented. Peace!... END
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Cast Makes the Film Better
Review: With all honesty we know this film would have been like gum underneath a shoe if it hadn't been for the cast. The story is nonexistent, the dialogue a joke and the plot...well you get the picture. The best part of Mystery Men is how the cast is so colorful they come together to rescue what would otherwise be a disastrous movie. This is not a film you can easily recommend to anyone. It's not a film that's so black and white you can classify it so it's truly up to people's tastes whether they should see it or not. I bought it in 1999 and have watched it about ten times since then. It's a good film to watch if you're bored but I can't say it's so wonderful you should run out and buy it. Just wait to see it on television. You'll enjoy it better when you save your money. It's entertaining even if the story centers around a bunch of funny, yet weird morons.
Rating:
Summary: Stupid--But Hilarious
Review: Ok, perhaps I'm just a little bit more enthusiatic about this movie then the average person. But it really is a humerous movie. Basically, the plot quite simple. The city's favorite superhero, Captain Amazing, is kidnapped by the bad guy, Casanova Frankenstein (as a result of his own publicity stunt). Someone has to save him. It becomes a job for the Mystery Men. The original three, Mr. Furious, the Shovler, and the Blue Raja, recruit Invisible Boy, the Spleen, and the Bowler, and along with the help of a mysterious, legendary hero and a mad scientist, save the city from Casanova. Now Captain Amazing fate...well, I'll let you see it for yourself. It's humerous, though. Sure, it's filled with bad puns (Blue Raja, master of silverware, frequently says things like "i shall fork-give you" or "see you spoon"). But if you aren't expecting some intellegent, award-winning masterpiece, you'll be happy with the movie. One think I don't understand is the PG-13 rating. Perhaps it's for violence, although it's not really that violent. The language is actually relatively tame, considering most movies today. So it really makes a nice movie for pre-teens as well as the older crowd.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie, laughs ahoy!
Review: Ben Stiller, as always, is hilarious. The rest of the cast does a good job too. They all did pretty well. But they make the movie funny. Basically some average superheroes have to save a real superhero called Captain Amazing. They have a whacky adventure.
I love the superhero tryouts. Dane Cook and that mysterious guy. He was cool. Great movie though. Lots of funny situations. I don't know how to describe it any more than that.
Rating:
Summary: SAVING THE DAY
Review: MYSTERY MEN has as many misses as it does hits, but the hits are great, and a wonderful cast imbues this otherwise iffy comedy with vitality, life and a droll sense of humor. What makes it work is the actors take their roles so seriously and seem delighted to be in this movie. The real standouts are William H. Macy, Wes Studi, Geoffrey Rush, Greg Kinnear and of course, the Bowler Jeannine Garafolo. Although it sometimes slows down a little, it has some really inventive and hilarious segments and on the whole is a very entertaining spoof.
Rating: 
Summary: Staggeringly bad
Review: There are dozens of clever, offbeat films worth watching, but this isn't one of them.
This was the worst movie I have seen since Robert Townsand's Meteor Man.
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