Mystery Men
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| Mystery Men | |
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| Directed by | Kinka Usher |
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| Produced by | Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin Mike Richardson |
| Written by | Comic Book Series: Bob Burden Screenplay: Neil Cuthbert |
| Starring | Hank Azaria Claire Forlani Janeane Garofalo Eddie Izzard Greg Kinnear William H. Macy Kel Mitchell Lena Olin Paul Reubens Geoffrey Rush Ben Stiller Wes Studi Tom Waits with Pras Michel Ricky Jay Louise Lasser Artie Lange |
| Music by | Stephen Warbeck |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Conrad Buff |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 6, 1999 |
| Running time | 121 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $68,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $33,461,011 |
Mystery Men is a 1999 comedy film directed by TV commercial director Kinka Usher. It starred William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria as a trio of lesser superheroes with fairly unimpressive superpowers who need to save the day. The film's two great strengths were considered to be the art direction and the dialogue, much of which was improvised by the cast. Despite its list of stars, Mystery Men was widely considered to be a flop with a final box office gross of just $29,762,011 within the USA and $3,699,000 outside the USA[1].
It has since been developing something of a cult following.[2] The soundtrack prominently featured the Smash Mouth song "All Star" and clips from the film form the basis of the song's video.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
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 heroes, 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 sponsors are threatening to end their deals. 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 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, fumbling over each other, attempt to confront Frankenstein in his limo, but succeed only in annoying him and vandalizing his car. A later attempt to sneak into his mansion to rescue Capt. Amazing ends when they inadvertently kill the hero with the Psycho-frakulator.
Without Amazing, the team believes there is no way they can save the city. A mysterious man named The Sphinx helps to restore their morale and plan another assault on Frankenstein's mansion. They also enlist the help of non-lethal weapons expert Dr. Heller who provides them with armaments and the parts to make their assault vehicle, the Herkimer Battle Jitney. Mr. Furious, feeling that both his position of authority and his apparent lack of powers are in question, finds solace in talking with Monica, a diner waitress, who tells him to just be himself. Mr. Furious rejoins the team, and they lay their attack on the mansion, subduing most of the henchmen with their weapons and powers. Unfortunately, as the heroes approach Frankenstein, he reveals that he has kidnapped Monica, then proceeds to activate the Psycho-frakulator and wreak havoc upon the city. As the team figures out how to stop the device, Mr. Furious takes on Frankenstein. After being taunted by and taking a beating from Frankenstein, Mr. Furious unleashes his anger power and defeats Frankenstein who is thrown into the core of the Psycho-frakulator and is killed by its reality-bending powers. The rest of the team helps the Bowler use her bowling ball (containing her father's skull) to destroy the Psycho-frakulator. They escape the mansion as the device implodes upon itself.
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 offers up the "Mystery Men", but the others don't listen.
[edit] Cast and Characters
Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja. The Raja has the ability to throw any silverware accurately as a tool or weapon, but refuses to throw knives, "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 secret from her. His costume doesn't have any blue in it, which he doesn't see a problem with.
William H. Macy as The Shoveler. 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.
Ben Stiller as Mr. Furious. Mr. Furious' claim to powers is super-strength, but only when he becomes incredibly angry; however, this claim is only verified by an unsubstantiated report of him being able to lift a bus. His real name is Roy, and he works at a junk yard, which is where the team assembles the Herkimer Battle Jitney.
Paul Reubens as The Spleen. Cursed by a gypsy, The Spleen can aim his super-powered flatulence to take out his targets, but he smells terrible at all times.
Kel Mitchell as Invisible Boy. Invisible Boy claims he can become invisible, but only when no one (including himself) is looking. This later proves to be true.
Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler. She is actually the daughter of the original Bowler, seeking revenge on Tony P (Eddie Izzard) for the murder of her father. She has had her father's skull embedded into the center of a bowling ball. She appears to communicate with the spirit of her father which inhabits the ball, allowing it to fly over short distances when thrown by his daughter.
Wes Studi as The Sphinx. The Sphinx is shrouded in myth, and has the power to cut guns in half with his mind. He is one of the world's most respected superheroes and is able to offer the team advice, though most of it comes as cryptic platitudes.
Tom Waits as Dr. A. Heller. Dr. Heller is a scientist that specializes in "non-lethal weapons", such as the "blame thrower" and "canned tornadoes". He frequents Champion City nursing homes, "for the ladies".
Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing. A superhero who has been the champion of the city for years, earning him many sponsors that advertise on his suit, all managed through his publicist Vic Weems (Ricky Jay). His alter ego, obtained by simply wearing a pair of glasses, is lawyer Lance Hunt. Apparently only Mr Furious can see through this simple disguise, "He takes off the glasses when he transforms...", "That's ridiculous, he wouldn't be able to see!"
Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein. A long-time rival of Captain Amazing, Frankenstein is an insane genius seeking to destroy Champion City.
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. He is responsible for killing The Bowler's father by "making him fall down an elevator shaft, onto some bullets." The Disco Boys include Big Red (Artie Lange) and Tony C (Prakazrel Michel).
Claire Forlani as Monica, the waitress at the diner where the original team of three eat. Though she initially passes on Mr. Furious' attempts to flirt with her, she warms up to him, and tells him to be himself. This has the unfortunate effect of temporarily removing 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 have two of the Frat Boys played by action director Michael Bay (he's the one who asks "can we bring the brewskies?") and Riki Rachtman, former host of MTV's Headbanger's Ball.
[edit] Basis
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 comics team had a high casualty rate). Casanova Frankenstein also once battled The Flaming Carrot.
[edit] Cultural references
The film has numerous allusions and nods to better-known superheroes.
- Captain Amazing's alter-ego hides his face behind glasses, a reference to Superman/Clark Kent.
- The Shoveler: Oh yeah, well, maybe if we had a billionaire like Lance Hunt as our benefactor, then we could afford some advertising.
- Mr. Furious: That's because Lance Hunt is Captain Amazing.
- Blue Raja: Oh, here we go.
- Shoveler: Oh, don't start that again! Lance Hunt wears glasses. Captain Amazing doesn't wear glasses.
- Mr. Furious: [Long-suffering] He takes them off when he transforms.
- Shoveler: That doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't be able to see!
- After defeating Casanova Frankenstein, Mr. Furious picks up his girlfriend and leaps from the second floor balcony of the mansion to the first floor below. The sound effect heard while he jumps is identical to the one used in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man when Steve Austin jumped using his bionic legs.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Mystery Men at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Rabin, Nathan.My Year of Flops Case File #24 Mystery Men. 17 April, 2007. Retrieved on 4 June, 2007
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mystery Men |
- Mystery Men at the Internet Movie Database
- Mystery Men at Allmovie
- Mystery Men at Rotten Tomatoes (63% Fresh)
- Mystery Men Easter Eggs
