| Mystery Men | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Kinka Usher |
| Produced by | Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin Mike Richardson |
| Written by | Comic book series: Bob Burden Screenplay: Neil Cuthbert |
| Starring | Ben Stiller Hank Azaria William H. Macy Janeane Garofalo Eddie Izzard Greg Kinnear Kel Mitchell Paul Reubens Geoffrey Rush Claire Forlani Lena Olin Wes Studi Tom Waits |
| Music by | Stephen Warbeck |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Conrad Buff |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 30, 1999 |
| Running time | 121 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $68,000,000 |
| Box office | $33,461,011 |
Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film based on the Dark Horse comic book Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden. The film was directed by Kinka Usher. It stars William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who are required to save the day. The film's two great strengths are considered to be the art direction and the dialogue, much of which was improvised by the cast. Despite its list of stars and the critical praise, Mystery Men was widely considered to be a flop with a final box office gross of just $29,762,011 domestically and $3,699,000 outside the USA.[1]
It has since built a cult following.[2]
Contents |
In the fictional metropolis of Champion City, three men (Mr. Furious, The Shoveler, and the Blue Raja) attempt to make a name for themselves as superheroes, but find themselves upstaged by the well-sponsored Captain Amazing. However, Amazing is finding that his skill at capturing villains has left the city with virtually no crime, and his corporate sponsors are threatening to terminate his funding. In order to create a need for a superhero, Amazing uses his alter ego, the billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of the insane supervillain Casanova Frankenstein. The plan backfires; once reunited with Tony P and his Disco Boys, Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum, captures Amazing, and sets his sights on creating a doomsday device, the "Psycho-frakulator", which can bend reality. Mr. Furious, while spying on Frankenstein's mansion, discovers Amazing's abduction, and tells the others.
The three realize they need more allies, and through word-of-mouth and try-outs, they bring aboard The Spleen, Invisible Boy, and the Bowler. The newly formed team "assaults" Casanova, which only succeeds in annoying him and damaging his car. While celebrating their victory, Tony P and his Disco Boys nearly kill them, but they are saved by the Sphinx. The Sphinx begins to train them, annoying Mr. Furious with his methods. They also recruit mad scientist Dr. Heller who specializes in non-lethal weaponry.
Attempting to save Captain Amazing, the group breaks into Casanova's mansion during a gathering of the city's various gangs. In their attempts to free him, however, Amazing becomes the first victim of the Psycho-frakulator. Without Amazing, the team despairs that there is no way they can save the city, but the Shoveler delivers a classic pep-talk that succeeds in changing the group's spirit. They assault the mansion, subduing most of the henchmen with their weapons and using their negligible powers to surprisingly good effect. Unfortunately, as the heroes approach Frankenstein, he reveals that he has kidnapped Mr. Furious' girlfriend, then proceeds to activate the Psycho-frakulator and wreak havoc upon the city. While the team tries to stop the device, Mr. Furious takes on Frankenstein. After being taunted by and taking a beating from Frankenstein, Mr. Furious unleashes his inner rage and actually manages to fight effectively. 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 Psycho-frakulator. They escape the mansion as the device implodes.
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.
Ben Stiller as Mr. Furious. Mr. Furious' claimed power is super-strength, activated only when he becomes incredibly angry; however, this claim is only verified by an unsubstantiated report of him having once lifted a city bus (later described by Mr. Furious as "more of a push", aided by the bus driver who "kind of had his foot on the gas, just in the beginning"). His real name is Roy, and he works at a junk yard.
William H. Macy as The Shoveler. His real name is Eddie. His special ability is his finesse in using a shovel in a broad variety of ways. His choice of lifestyle causes consternation with his wife, Lucille (Jenifer Lewis) and children.
Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja. His real name is Jeffrey. The Blue Raja has the ability to throw any silverware accurately as a tool or weapon, but refuses to throw knives, claiming that "you can't try and stop a crime by committing an even worse one." Though he speaks in a British accent during missions, he is actually a middle-aged American adult that still lives with his mother, Violet (Louise Lasser), and attempts to keep his superhero persona a secret from her. His initial costume does not have any blue in it. His frequent puns usually refer to forks (ex: "I say, what the fork.")
Kel Mitchell as Invisible Boy. Invisible Boy can become invisible, but only when no one (including himself) is looking. This later proves useful, as gun turrets with motion sensors do not fire on invisible people. However, when his power is used, his clothes fall off. When he becomes visible again, he's naked.
Paul Reubens as The Spleen. Cursed by a gypsy after an incident in which he blamed his flatulence on her, the Spleen can aim his super-powered flatulence to incapacitate his opponents. He smells bad at all times, speaks with a lisp, and has warts on his face. He has a crush on the Bowler.
Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler. Her real name is Carol. She is the daughter of the original Bowler (Carmine the Bowler). She is seeking revenge on Tony P (Eddie Izzard) for the murder of her father (Tony escaped prosecution by testifying that Carmine "died when he fell down an elevator shaft, onto some bullets"). She has had her father's skull embedded in the center of a bowling ball. She claims she can communicate with the spirit of her father, which inhabits the ball, allowing her to throw it with uncanny accuracy and force. She also has heated arguments with the ball which appear one-sided to anyone but her, causing the rest of her teammates to watch in awkward silence.
Wes Studi as The Sphinx. One of the world's most respected superheroes, the Sphinx is "terribly mysterious", and purportedly has the power "to cut guns in half with his mind". He offers the rest of the team dubious or needlessly cryptic advice ("Until you learn to master your rage, your rage will become your master.") and forced antimetabole ("When you learn to balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack."), which nonetheless proves useful in their training.
Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein. An evil genius and longtime rival of Captain Amazing. While incarcerated in an insane asylum following his initial defeat by Amazing, he learned the mechanics of a reality-bending device known as a "Psycho-frakulator," which he constructs upon his release and uses to attack Champion City. He is the film's main antagonist
Eddie Izzard as Tony P. Frankenstein's second-in-command. Leader of the Disco Boys, he refuses to accept that the disco era came to an end: "Disco is NOT dead, disco is LIFE!" He is armed with a can of highly flammable hairspray that he uses to attack his enemies as well as a heavily modified Taurus PT92 pistol. He is responsible for killing The Bowler's father by "making him fall down an elevator shaft, onto some bullets."
Prakazrel Michel as Tony C. Tony P's second-in-command of the Disco Boys.
Artie Lange as Big Red. Leader of the Red-Eyes, whom Blue Raja, The Shoveler, and Mr. Furious attempt to defeat in the beginning.
Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing/Lance Hunt. A legendary superhero who has kept Champion City safe for years, and whose suit displays a number of logos of corporate sponsors. He is disliked by the Mystery Men because he constantly shows them up. Captain Amazing is the alter ego of billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt. Lance Hunt's sole physical difference from Captain Amazing is a pair of glasses. That leads Mr. Furious at one point to guess Amazing's true identity, but he is dismissed by his comrades: "He takes them off when he transforms." "That doesn't make any sense, he wouldn't be able to see!"
Ricky Jay as Victor Weems, Captain Amazing's publicist, who manages all of his endorsements that keep the Captain famous and initially inspires him to challenge Frankenstein once more.
Tom Waits as Dr. A. Heller. Dr. Heller is a scientist who designs weapons such as the "blame thrower" and the "shrinker". The Mystery Men almost dismiss him as a lunatic when he tells them that his weapons are strictly non-lethal, until he demonstrates a "canned tornado" on the Spleen. He frequents Champion City nursing homes, "for the ladies." He is rather eccentric, but aids the Mystery Men by providing them with weapons and outfitting their Herkimer Battle Jitney with a large magnet.
Claire Forlani as Monica, a waitress at the diner frequented by Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and Blue Raja. Though she initially ignores Mr. Furious' attempts to flirt with her, she later warms to him. She tells him to "be himself", implying that this means not being Mr Furious. This temporarily removes his anger and leaves him less effective in battle.
Cameos during the superhero tryout scene include Dane Cook as The Waffler, Doug Jones as Pencil Head, and Dana Gould as Squeegee Man. Cameos at Casanova's mansion include two frat boys played by action director Michael Bay (he is the one who asks "Can we bring the brewskies?") and Riki Rachtman (former host of MTV's Headbanger's Ball). Goodie Mob appears as the "Not-So-Goodie-Mob". Cee Lo Green can also be seen playing one of the evil gangsters.
The movie was loosely based on the independent comic book series Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden, who also gets Writers Guild of America writing credits, though some characters were greatly changed from the original material. The Flaming Carrot was a member of the team and with the exception of Captain Amazing and Invisible Boy, all the heroes from the film appeared at least once as members (though there were many others as well – the team in the comics had a high casualty rate). Casanova Frankenstein also once battled The Flaming Carrot.
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 60% based on 101 reviews.[3] Jonathan Romney said that it was "a desperately hit-and-miss affair". Michael Dequina said that it "fails to come up with worthy gags and one-liners for the able cast". Steve Murray 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." Nell Minow said it was a "Decent depiction of post-modern comic-book story." Rob Gonsalves said it was "An instant cult comedy that doesn't walk or talk like anything else out there."