Mystery Men poster
Mystery Men is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher, and written by Neil Cuthbert and Bob Burden, loosely based on Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics published by Dark Horse Comics. William H. Macy, Ben Stiller, and Hank Azaria star as a trio of lesser superheroes with unimpressive powers who are required to save the day.
Plot[]
In the metropolis of Champion City, the would-be superhero team of Mr. Furious, The Shoveler, and The Blue Raja attempt to make a name for themselves, but their suspect skills make them ineffective, and they find themselves upstaged by the city's most successful superhero, Captain Amazing. However, Amazing is finding that his effectiveness at fighting crime has practically made his job obsolete, and without any worthy adversaries remaining, his corporate sponsors are beginning to pull their funding. To create a need for himself, Amazing uses his alter ego, billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of insane supervillain Casanova Frankenstein. The plan backfires; once reunited with Tony P and his Disco Boys, Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum, captures Amazing, and prepares to unleash a doomsday device: the "Psycho-frakulator", which lethally bends reality. Mr. Furious, while spying on Frankenstein's mansion, discovers Amazing's capture and informs the others.
After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, the three realize they need more allies, and through word-of-mouth and try-outs, they recruit The Spleen, Invisible Boy, and The Bowler. The newly formed team "assaults" Casanova, which only succeeds in annoying him and damaging his car. While drunk from celebrating their victory, the team is nearly killed in retaliation by Tony P and the Disco Boys, but they are saved at the last minute by the Sphinx. The Sphinx trains them, but his methods annoy Mr. Furious – he has them complete rote team-building exercises and speaks exclusively in platitudes. They also seek out mad scientist Dr. Heller, who specializes in non-lethal weaponry, to equip them for their battle.
The group breaks into Casanova's mansion during a gathering of several of the city's gangs, but while attempting to free Captain Amazing, they inadvertently set off the Psycho-frakulator, killing him instead. Without Amazing, the team despairs that there is no way they can save the city, but the Shoveler delivers a pep-talk that succeeds in uniting and inspiring them. With new-found purpose, they assault the mansion, and by making effective use of their negligible superpowers, and with the help of Heller's weapons, manage to subdue most of Frankenstein's henchmen. Unfortunately, as the heroes approach Frankenstein, he reveals that he is holding Mr. Furious' girlfriend hostage, and proceeds to activate the Psycho-frakulator, which begins to wreak havoc upon the city. While the team tries to stop the device, Mr. Furious takes on Frankenstein. After initially taking a beating, Mr. Furious unleashes his inner rage and manages to fight effectively for the first time. 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 device, and escape the mansion as it implodes, killing several villains still inside.
The team is interviewed by reporters, begging to know their team name. 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.
Cast[]
- 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
- 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"