LogFAQs > #971939904

28. Mystery Men (1999)
Directed by Kinka Usher
Score: 237

Vis: 10
John: 19
Forty: 20
Karo: 24
Tangy: 24
Mythiot: 26
Suprak: 27
Plasma: 28
Poke: 29
GavsEvans: 30

Vis
10. I can fully acknowledge that from an objective standpoint, this perhaps shouldnt rank as highly as I have it. Its not the funniest movie on this list. But it some nostalgia going for it, and watching it nowadays, you realize exactly what its parodying, and its kind of brilliant. In the decade prior to Mystery Men, we got four Batman movies. Two were in Tim Burtons weird, gothic style, but then we got two in this bizarre cartoon world of Joel Schumacher, and you can SEE the influence those two movies in particular had on Mystery Men. Seriously, the ending sequence with the frakulator is almost the same visual aesthetic as Mister Freezes ice ray over Gotham City at the climax of Batman & Robin.

But beyond just highlighting the parody of Schumachers work, Mystery Men is a fun little movie about a super team that doesnt really have a TON of genuine powers. Spleen, Sphinx and Invisible Boy have some things they can do, and Bowler has a sentient bowling ball, but for the most part, its just a team of losers banding together to form something greater than the individuals within. That works. Its fun, and there are emotional character beats for the original trio of Mr. Furious/Shoveler/Blue Rajah, plus its just got that hammy charm that makes for a fun viewing experience, even if you know its cheesy as hell. And by the fact that its a comedy and a parody, it makes that cheesiness feel intentional, and it elevates the movie, rather than making it a laughing stock like Batman & Robin.

John
19. Take Paul Reubens character out of this entirely and it's a good movie. I mean I like Paul Reubens but having one of the main cast be a fake-pimple-ridden fart-powered hero is unoriginal and unfunny, in a movie where every other character is specifically original and funny. This does get a solid like 10% grade boost solely for featuring William H Macy, who can never fail.

Forty
20. Weve got a blind date with destinyand it looks like shes ordered the lobster. This is a movie that I somehow never saw back in 1999 and then never cared enough to watch it until now. The problem with that is that since then there have been a lot of good to great satirical takes on the superhero genre like Kick Ass, Deadpool, Watchmen, Suicide Squad and The Boys to name a few. I thought that would put Mystery Men in a tough spot because the misfit superhero thing has been done so well on so many other occasions. I found that MM was able to carve out its own niche though and I found it enjoyable. Its actually pretty fun a lot of the time and I liked the characters more as it went along. Theyre funny enough, charming in their own way, and have a lot of heart. Geoffrey Rushs eccentricity is perfect for the villain role and the other stars bring their different unique flavors (fun fact: one of the frat boys is Michael Bay). Champion City is cool, kind of a cyberpunk Shumachers Gotham, and a lot of the other sets are fun too like Casanovas lair and the guys weapons laboratory. Its a good story of the underappreciated little guy fighting the good fight against all odds and youve gotta respect that.

Karo
24. A group of the most scuffed superheroes imaginable must save the day after the city's leading costumed crusader goes missing.
The characters get less funny and increasingly annoying the longer the movie goes on, and it felt like the movie went on for a very long time. Every character had like only one joke about them that they repeat ad nausem for two whole hours. Fart guy rips really rancid farts! Angry guy is impotently angry! Cutlery guy only wields useless silverware! Shovel guy has a shovel and nothing else!
The often formulaic nature of superherodom is a ripe target for parody, but this movie... is not it. It is just a half baked and incompetently directed attempt to satirize a genre of movie that hadnt really even taken off yet at this point in time. It is rife with extremely bad special effects throughout (and I mean EXTREMELY bad), and is late 90s well beyond the threshold of physical pain.
There are a few memorable scenes (hero tryouts, death of captain amazing), but by and large the film is a pile of rubbish that stinks worse than Spleen's butt cheeks.