DIRECTOR
Kinka Usher
SCREENWRITER
Neil Cuthbert
based
on characters created by
Bob Burden
PRODUCERS
Lawrence Gordon
Mike Richardson
Lloyd Levin
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Stephen H. Burum
MUSIC
Stephen Warbeck
EDITOR
Conrad Buff
CAST
Hank Azaria (The Blue Raja)
Claire Forlani (Monica)
Janeane Garofalo (The Bowler)
Eddie Izzard (Tony P.)
Greg Kinnear (Captain Amazing)
William H. Macy (The Shoveler)
Kel Mitchell (Invisible Boy)
Lena Olin (Dr. Annabel Leek)
Pras (Tony C.)
Paul Reubens (The Spleen)
Geoffrey Rush (Casanova Frankenstein)
Ben Stiller (Mr. Furious)
Wes Studi (The Sphinx)
Tom Waits (Dr. Heller)
Louise Lasser (Blue Raja's Mom)
Jenifer Lewis (Lucille)
Ricky Jay (Vic Weems)
Dane Cook (Waffler)
Gabrielle Conferti (PMS Avenger)
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running
time: 122m
U.S. release: August 6, 1999
Video availability: VHS - DVD
Official
site
|
Superheroes
have always been a hair away from the absurd: I mean, c'mon --
Batman? Aquaman? Spider-Man? Thus, four-color gods have been
targets for parody almost as long as comics have existed. I'm
not familiar with Bob Burden's original "Mystery Men"
stories (which appeared in his cult-favorite, absurdist comic
Flaming Carrot), but imaginative writers in the medium
have long punctured the self-serious balloon of pulp superfiction.
Alan Moore's Watchmen imagined a universe in which superheroes
were outlawed and driven into exile; it was a serious work that
nonetheless treated its heroes as misfit schlubs (picture Albert
Brooks in a cape and mask). The caustic British comic Marshal
Law recast superheroes as power-drunk psychos; the hero was
the guy who killed superheroes.
So, to longtime comics readers -- whether or not they've read
Burden's take on the supergenre -- the movie Mystery Men
is nothing new. To the average moviegoer, though, it will feel
fresh, and it has an added layer of parody: as directed by Kinka
Usher (famous for his "Yo quiero Taco Bell" ads), the
movie is often a straight-faced take-off of the movies that may
have double-handedly killed the superhero-movie genre -- Joel
Schumacher's neon-soaked Batman
Forever and Batman
and Robin. Top it off with a mega-hip cast -- finally,
Janeane Garofalo as a superheroine! -- and you have an instant
cult comedy that doesn't walk or talk like anything else out
there.
In Champion City, the corporate-sponsored ubermensch Captain
Amazing (Greg Kinnear in full pompous bloom, making up for A
Smile Like Yours) is bored. He's defeated every supervillain
worth his time; the only baddies left are scrappy gangs without
guidance. The Captain has an idea: His greatest adversary, Casanova
Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush, cheerfully gobbling the scenery),
is about to be paroled, and the Captain greases the wheels for
Casanova's release from the asylum. He then smugly pays a visit
to Casanova, who just as smugly takes him hostage. Crime begins
to run rampant again in Champion City. Someone must save the
day.
Someone turns out to be a group for whom the term "motley
crew" was invented. We have: Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller),
desperately in need of anger-management counseling; the Blue
Raja (Hank Azaria), a faux-exotic hero who hurls every bit of
silverware except knives ("I'm not Stab Man," he insists);
the Shoveler (William H. Macy), darn good with a shovel; the
Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), who wields a mean bowling ball; the
Spleen (Paul Reubens), whose finger you do not want to
pull; the Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), who can become invisible
only when nobody's looking; and the Sphinx (Wes Studi), the movie's
goof on Jedi Masters. Given such unlikely material, these fine
comic actors (even the sober-sided Wes Studi packs a fine deadpan)
give each scene and line of dialogue a spin off-center. Other
hipsters turn up for the party, too: Tom Waits as a weapons specialist,
Eddie Izzard and Pras as disco gangsters, Lena Olin looking great
(but unfortunately not doing much else) as Casanova's partner
in crime.
Those not attuned to the movie's wobbly brand of humor (I laughed
pretty much all the way through) will consider Mystery Men
yet another cluttered dud wasting a killer cast. For me, the
cast makes the movie -- the idea that all these people
wanted to put on goofy costumes and poke deadpan fun at lurid
comic-book clichés and the movies those clichés
spawned. Mystery Men has an exuberantly tacky look; it
gives you the cheap pleasures of brainless blockbusters without
actually being brainless. It even has a biting subtext:
the obscure, working-class heroes laboring in the shadow of the
mighty Captain Amazing, either resentful of his success or in
awe of it. Their ultimate triumph is not defeating the nefarious
Casanova Frankenstein, but finally getting some media attention.
One wonders how long it will be before the Bowler has Pepsi ads
stuck all over her ball, or Mr. Furious starts doing TV commercials
for Prozac. |
