Mystery Men

In the fictional metropolis of Champion City, three men (Mr. Furious, The Shoveler, and The Blue Raja — played by Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, and Hank Azaria) attempt to make a name for themselves as superheroes, but find themselves upstaged by the well-sponsored Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). 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 (Geoffrey Rush). The plan backfires; once reunited with Tony P (Eddie Izzard) 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 (Paul Reubens), Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), and The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo). 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 the group, but they are saved by the Sphinx (Wes Studi). The Sphinx begins to train them, annoying Mr. Furious with his methods — he has them complete rote team-building exercises and speaks exclusively in platitudes. They also recruit mad scientist Dr. Heller (Tom Waits) 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
• William H. Macy as The Shoveler
• Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja
• Kel Mitchell as Invisible Boy
• Paul Reubens as The Spleen
• Janeane Garofalo as The Bowler
• Wes Studi as The Sphinx

• Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein
• Eddie Izzard as Tony P.
• Prakazrel Michel as Tony C.
• Artie Lange as Big Red
• Lena Olin as Dr. Anabel Leek

• Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing/Lance Hunt
• Ricky Jay as Victor Weems
• Tom Waits as Dr. A. Heller
• Claire Forlani as Monica

Cameos include:

• Dane Cook as The Waffler
• Doug Jones as Pencil Head
• Dana Gould as Squeegee Man
• Michael Bay and Riki Rachtman as Frat Boys
• Goodie Mob including Cee Lo Green as the "Not-So-Goodie-Mob"

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 Mystery Men Mantra" – Mark Mothersbaugh
• "All Star" – Smash Mouth
• "Planet Claire" – B-52s
• "No More Heroes" – Violent Femmes (Originally by The Stranglers)
• "O Mio Babbino Caro" – Miriam Gauci (Composed by Giacomo Puccini)
• "Gangsters" – Citizen King (Originally by The Specials)
• "Who Are Those Mystery Men" – Kel and the M.A.F.T. Emcees featuring Romaine Jones

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".^{[citation needed]} Michael Dequina said that it "fails to come up with worthy gags and one-liners for the able cast".^{[citation needed]} 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."^{[citation needed]}

British television channel Film4 gave it a positive review, saying it was "Hugely entertaining – especially for those with a thing for superheroes."^{[citation needed]} Nell Minow said it was a "Decent depiction of post-modern comic-book story."^{[citation needed]} Rob Gonsalves said it was "An instant cult comedy that doesn't walk or talk like anything else out there."^{[citation needed]}

• The Specials
• Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

• Mystery Men at IMDb
• Mystery Men at AllMovie
• Mystery Men at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mystery Men at Superheroes Lives