Mystery Men (1999)

Directed by Kinka Usher. With Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria. A group of inept amateur superheroes must try to save the day when a supervillian threatens to destroy a major superhero and the city.

Mystery Men is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher and written by Neil Cuthbert and Bob Burden

Based on the Dark Horse comic, Mystery Men. Seven lame superhero wannabes, who are called upon to use their dubious

"Mystery Men" has moments of brilliance waving their arms to attract attention in a sea of dreck. It's a long, shapeless, undisciplined mess, and every once in awhile it generates a big laugh. Since many of thel aughs seems totally in the character of the actors who get them, they play like ad libs -- as if we're hearing asides to the audience.

Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria, Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush, Janeane Garofalo, Claire Forlani, Lena Olin, Kel Mitchell, Paul Reubens, Wes Studi, Tom Waits, Eddie Izzard, Kinka Usher, Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, Lloyd Levin, Neil Cuthbert: Movies & TV

For whatever reason, a lot of the early superhero movies were also superhero-movie parodies. Before the genre was fully formed—before it was even close to fully formed—movies were using it as grist for jokes. The idea, I think, was that the superhero was a ridiculous and outdated form of American cultural lore, the sort of thing that deserved to be lampooned. It was like the ’50s-sitcom nuclear family: an ideal that could never possibly exist, and that needed to be deflated. Even in Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman, the first real big-budget and high-profile superhero blockbuster, we get stuff like the guy on the street who tells Superman that he’s got a bad out-fit.

Mystery Men summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

"They're not your average superheroes." Original theatrical trailer to 1999's underrated, star studded, Mystery Men. Starring Ben Stiller, William H Macy, Ha...

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Mystery Men (1999) is a comedy film presenting a twist on comic book superheroes. When Champion City's greatest superhero disappears, the fight against evil is left in the hands of a group of second-string superhero "wannabees'.

When Champion City's hero Captain Amazing is kidnapped by the recently paroled supervillain Casanova Frankenstein, a trio of average, everyday superheroes -- Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja -- assemble a new super team to save him.

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