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Mystery Men (22-Jul-1999)

Director: Kinka Usher

Writer: Neil Cuthbert

From comic book: Mysterymen by Bob Burden (comic book series)

Music by: Stephen Warbeck

Producers: Lawrence Gordon; Mike Richardson; Lloyd Levin

Keywords: Action/Comedy, Superheroes, Comic Book

[watch trailer]

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
Hank Azaria
Actor
25-Apr-1964   Moe and Apu on The Simpsons
Michael Bay
Film Director
17-Feb-1964   Armageddon
Noah Blake
Actor
1-Feb-1965   Brett Douglas on Harry and the Hendersons
Corbin Bleu
Actor
21-Feb-1989   Jump In!
Cee-Lo
Singer
30-May-1974   "Forget You"
Dane Cook
Comic
18-Mar-1972   Harmful If Swallowed
Claire Forlani
Actor
1-Jul-1972   Boys and Girls
Janeane Garofalo
Comic
28-Sep-1964   Actor, Comedian, Author, Activist
Eddie Izzard
Comic
7-Feb-1962   Bloke in a dress going on and on
Ricky Jay
Magician
26-Jun-1946 24-Nov-2018 Jay's Journal of Anomalies
Doug Jones
Actor
24-May-1960   Pan's Labyrinth
Greg Kinnear
Actor
17-Jun-1963   Talk Soup
Artie Lange
Comic
11-Oct-1967   MADtv, Howard Stern
Louise Lasser
Actor
11-Apr-1939   Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Jenifer Lewis
Actor
25-Jan-1957   The Preacher's Wife
William H. Macy
Actor
13-Mar-1950   Fargo
Monet Mazur
Actor
17-Apr-1976   Blow
Kel Mitchell
Actor
25-Aug-1978   Good Burger, Mystery Men
Mark Mothersbaugh
Musician
18-May-1950   Devo
Lena Olin
Actor
22-Mar-1956   Enemies: A Love Story
Jack Plotnick
Actor
30-Oct-1968   Xandir on Drawn Together
Pras
Musician
19-Oct-1972   Co-founder of The Fugees, Ghetto Superstar
Riki Rachtman
TV Personality
15-Jun-1965   Hosted MTV's Headbanger's Ball
Paul Reubens
Actor
27-Aug-1952   Pee-wee Herman
Geoffrey Rush
Actor
6-Jul-1951   Shine, Quills
Ben Stiller
Actor
30-Nov-1965   There's Something About Mary
Wes Studi
Actor
17-Dec-1947   Geronimo: An American Legend
Tom Waits
Singer/Songwriter
7-Dec-1949   Heartattack and Vine
Jody Watley
Singer/Songwriter
30-Jan-1959   Hasta la vista, baby

CAST

Mystery Men
Hank Azaria   ...   Blue Raja
Janeane Garofalo   ...   Bowler
William H. Macy   ...   Shoveler
Kel Mitchell   ...   Invisible Boy
Paul Reubens   ...   Spleen
Ben Stiller   ...   Furious
Wes Studi   ...   Sphinx
Superheroes
Greg Kinnear   ...   Captain Amazing
Bad Guys
Geoffrey Rush   ...   Casanova Frankenstein
Lena Olin   ...   Dr. Anabel Leek
Eddie Izzard   ...   Tony P
Artie Lange   ...   Big Red
Pras   ...   Tony C
Citizens
Claire Forlani   ...   Monica
Greg Kinnear   ...   Lance
Tom Waits   ...   Doc Heller
Louise Lasser   ...   Violet
Ricky Jay   ...   Vic Weems
Jenifer Lewis   ...   Lucille
Ernie Lee Banks   ...   Ted
Gerry Becker   ...   Banyon
Ned Bellamy   ...   Funk
Corbin Bleu   ...   Butch
Philip Bolden   ...   Roland
Jake Cross   ...   Thug
Emmy Laybourne   ...   Reporter
Mason Lucero   ...   Young Kid
Monet Mazur   ...   Becky Beaner
Joel McCrary   ...   McGuire
Chris Mugglebee   ...   Reporter
Olivia Lauren Todd   ...   Tracy
Frederick Usher   ...   Thug
Kinka Usher   ...   Moe
Gayle Vance   ...   Sally
Casanova's Gangs
Adrian Armas   ...   Disco Boy
Gichi Gamba   ...   Disco Boy
Thomas Lake   ...   Disco Boy
Robert Musselman   ...   Disco Boy
Solo Scott   ...   Disco Boy
Erik Michael Tristan   ...   Disco Boy
James Duke   ...   Big Tobacco
Angelica Bridges   ...   Furrier
Ungela Brockman   ...   Furrier
Kimberly James   ...   Furrier
Andreea Radutoiu   ...   Furrier
Michael Bay   ...   Frat Boy
Noah Blake   ...   Frat Boy
Riki Rachtman   ...   Frat Boy
T-Mo   ...   Rapper
Cee-Lo   ...   Rapper
Gipp   ...   Rapper
Khujo   ...   Rapper
Michael Chieffo   ...   Suit
Gil Christner   ...   Suit
Carl Strand   ...   Suit
Robert Chow   ...   Susie
John Brantley Cole   ...   Susie
Steven Jang   ...   Susie
Sung Kang   ...   Susie
Sasha Bray   ...   Disco Girl
Sunny Gorg   ...   Disco Girl
Shane Johnson   ...   Disco Girl
Jennifer Lee Keyes   ...   Disco Girl
Marie Matiko   ...   Disco Girl
Jody Watley   ...   Disco Girl
Old People's Home
Margaret Wheeler   ...   Old Lady
Billy Beck   ...   Old Man
Robert Lieb   ...   Old Man
Florence Stone Fevergeon   ...   Old Party Goer
Sarah Kane   ...   Old Party Goer
Ed Denette   ...   Old Veteran
Nori T. Gehr   ...   Back Up Singer
Kiko Kiko   ...   Back Up Singer
Kiyoko Yamaguchi   ...   Back Up Singer
Mark Mothersbaugh   ...   Band Leader
Nancye Ferguson   ...   Singer
Katie Adams   ...   Dancer
Shirley Bowden   ...   Dancer
Helen Etting   ...   Dancer
Lu Gay   ...   Dancer
Valerie Gitter   ...   Dancer
Mae Greenstein   ...   Dancer
C. Elane Innes   ...   Dancer
Irene Kamsler   ...   Dancer
Miriam R. Lawless   ...   Dancer
Teresa MacLean   ...   Dancer
Joanne McDermott   ...   Dancer
Crystal Gaer White   ...   Dancer
Wannabe Superheroes
Joann Richter   ...   Powerwoman
Stacey Travis   ...   Powerwoman
Larkin Campbell   ...   Supervacman
Oliver Clark   ...   Reverse Psychologist
Jack Plotnick   ...   Mr. Pups
Dane Cook   ...   Waffler
Robert Musselman   ...   Ballerinaman
Vince Melocchi   ...   Mailman
Doug Jones   ...   Pencilhead
Vincent Bowman   ...   Son of Pencilhead
Vylette Fagerholm   ...   Little Miss Vengence
Dana Gould   ...   Squeegeeman
Branden Williams   ...   Maintainer
The Monkey Brothers   ...   The Artiste
The Monkey Brothers   ...   Big Billy Hill Billy
Gabrielle Conferti   ...   PMS Avenger
Jeff Z. Danziger   ...   Radio Man
Wilbert Sampson   ...   Pig
Kenneth W. Watts   ...   Pig
Elliot Durant III   ...   Martial Artist
Anthony Sebastian Marinelli   ...   Gorilla
Drinda E. Shaneyfelt   ...   Evil Devil Woman
Felix Castro   ...   Globalman
Michael Craig   ...   Gardener
Ronald Lasky   ...   Bullfighter
David Still   ...   Stilt Man
Jonathan Khan   ...   Fisherman
Jerry Farmer   ...   Thirstyman

REVIEWS

Review by Walter Frith (posted on 12-Jul-2007)

'Mystery Men' has all of the ingredients of a typical 1990's film that looks like an adult comic book layered with special effects. Naturally it's all computerized and has paid advertising seen throughout the film by the corporate states of America. The hero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear) wears his outfit plastered with ads from sponsors and the film's bizarre visuals look in many cases like 'Batman' and 'Blade Runner' on LSD. Now that you have an idea of how it looks, it's important to tell you how it feels. There are moments of sporadic laughter but the film has clumsy execution and an even clumsier tone. The way the heroes carry out their mission is unconvincing in the face of unspeakable evil and no one would believe for a second that they could overcome their adversaries and save the day for the forces of good. Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria), the Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), the Shoveler (William H. Macy), Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), the Spleen (Paul Reubens) are a team of wannabe heroes. Some of them have fake accents, some use the tools of mere mortals and in general look like a gang of club members who got together in one afternoon and decided to be crime fighters and went to the nearest garage sale to get their arsenal of weapons. Forks, shovels and other oddities are used and in the opening scene we find they need a lot of work when they try and save a seniors home from a group of invading meanies. The original members of the group are Mr Furious, the Blue Raja and the Shoveler. They are joined later by the Bowler, Invisible Boy and the Spleen. The most intriguing member of the group is the Bowler (Garofolo) who has the skull of her dead father inside her ball and brags effortlessly that "The guy at the pro shop did it for me." When Captain Amazing is held captive in the evil clutches of Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), the heroes try and save him but have to deal with the goons aiding the chief bad guy. Casanova Frankenstein's plot is to destroy the city that kept him in an insane asylum for many torturous years. With his ego the size a dozen pro athletes, some would argue that Captain Amazing's eventual fate is justice in the making while the amateurs get all the deserving glory. Director Kinka Usher catapults the film like a guided missile gone awry. I enjoyed some of the antics and the way it made me laugh from time to time but overall I just couldn't find enough to sustain a film with a running length of 121 minutes. Neil Cuthbert is the author of the film's screenplay based on the comic book series Dark Horse created by Bob Burden. In my review of 1998's 'There's Something About Mary', I criticized the film for going too far in its display of overly crude material and I said that Ben Stiller was rather flat and unfunny. In 'Mystery Men' I found that his performance as the most screwed up hero probably looked good on paper but his execution of it is comparable to the least funny member of the original Three Stooges. The rest of the cast members are very flat and the fact that there are definitely too many of them makes it hard to root for any single one of them. Throughout the history of film, many have argued that some material just isn't capable of being filmed. Some literature worked better in plain text on paper. Some of it looks better as images in squares known as comic books and while special effects have worked marvelously for many films in the nineties, just as many of them have suffered from overkill and have passed themselves off as flash over substance. 'Mystery Men' may be 1999's ultimate definition of that. Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith


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