Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Mystery Men Blu-ray Movie Review

"We've Got a Blind Date with Destiny. And It Looks Like She's Ordered the Lobster."

Reviewed by Michael Reuben August 16, 2012

Mystery Men is a cult classic, but Universal obviously had something else in mind for a production budget of $65 million (or more, depending on the source). It assembled a name-brand cast led by Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Hank Azaria and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush. It recruited a highly regarded director, Kinka Usher, from the same group of slick commercial helmers that spawned Michael Bay (who has a cameo in the film). And it bought the rights to a comic book property known as Flaming Carrot created by Bob Burden, who has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. What could go wrong?

Creatively, nothing did. Mystery Men has remained a perennial on home video, and it holds up after multiple viewings. (I watch it again every few years, and I've seen it in every format, including theatrically.) But for reasons at which one can only guess, audiences didn't show when the film was released to theaters in August 1999. The film made less than $30 million at the U.S. box office, less than half its production cost.

What's most striking about Mystery Men is its comic bounty. The more varied you like your laughs, the more you're likely to enjoy the film, because it keeps changing registers, mixing the juvenile with the urbane and pairing every dollop of sophisticated wit with an equally silly pratfall. (The Monty Python crew would be proud.) Credit director Usher, his talented ensemble cast (which improvised freely) and ace editor Conrad Buff with melding so many comedic styles that the film can accommodate both the dumbest fart jokes (courtesy of Paul Reubens' character, the Spleen) and hilarious inside references like the publicist who deadpans to his client, "I'm a publicist, not a magician"—and happens to be played by world-renowned magician Ricky Jay.

Champion City resembles the hodgepodge Gotham of the Tim Burton Batman franchise after Joel Schumacher got his hands on it, but with a touch of Terry Gilliam's whimsy. The city's crime rate is blessedly low, however, thanks to the efforts of tireless superhero Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). The Captain's crime-fighting efforts are aided and funded by his secret identity as billionaire tycoon Lance Hunt. Like Clark Kent hiding his identity as Superman, Hunt dons his disguise simply by wearing glasses, and everyone is fooled. (Well, almost everyone.)

Occasional crimes still occur, and as the film opens, a rococo retirement community is being robbed by a brazen gang of thieves, when a trio of would-be superheroes tries to intervene. The Shoveler (Macy) wields a shovel; the Blue Rajah (Azaria) flings forks while dispensing wisecracks in a posh British accent; and Mr. Furious (Stiller) threatens to lose his temper, after which not much ever happens beyond Furious injuring himself. Indeed, the whole group does more harm to themselves than the thieves before Captain Amazing appears to contain the situation.

Privately, though, Captain Amazing is in a funk. His fortunes depend on corporate sponsorships—his costume has more logos on it than a NASCAR driver's—and the sponsors are disappearing, now that he's no longer bringing them spectacular crime-fighting exploits. Success has prematurely ended a profitable career. So Captain Amazing arranges through his alter ego, Lance Hunt, for the early release of his most deadly enemy, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush), from an asylum for the criminally insane, where the charismatic Casanova has already persuaded his doctor, Anabel Leek (Lena Olin), to argue that he's been "cured".

Of course, both Dr. Leek and Captain Amazing know full well that Casanova remains a criminal mastermind who's just itching to get back to business. In his deliriously evil but non-specific accent, Casanova immediately summons every gang in town to his mansion, promising to lead them in a glorious new era of lawlessness. As a demonstration of superiority, he takes Captain Amazing prisoner and prepares to execute him. So much for the Captain's plan to reconfirm his prowess and restore his endorsements. (Kinnear's portrayal of the Captain as a preening poseur who immediately wilts when the chips are down is hilarious.)

Meanwhile, the frustrated trio, Blue Rajah, Shoveler and Mr. Furious (a/k/a "Roy"), have been sitting at their usual coffee shop bemoaning their shortcomings and quarreling. (One gets the sense this is their primary activity as superheroes.) In their private lives, they work low-rent jobs and get zero respect. Shoveler's wife, Lucille (Jennifer Lewis), tells him to grow up; Blue Rajah's mother, Violet (Louise Lasser), wants to know if he's on drugs; and Roy slaves at an automotive junkyard and can't even get a date with the coffee shop waitress, Monica (Claire Forlani), who's caught his eye. But when they discover that Captain Amazing and Lance Hunt have disappeared, they have to do something.

It gives nothing away to reveal that the gang eventually vanquishes Casanova Frankenstein just before he levels Champion City with something called the psycho-frakulator. But that's hardly the point. It's what happens along the way that makes Mystery Men worth watching. The gang argues. They quibble. They whine. They hold tryouts for new recruits, which attract lunatic candidates like Dane Cook's "Waffler". (Cook wrote his own material, and he has about a minute of screen time, which is exactly the right amount of Dane Cook.) Ultimately they're joined by Spleen (Reubens), whose deadly farts are the result of a gypsy curse; Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), who suffers from the inconvenience of only being able to remain invisible when no one is looking; and the Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), whose ball performs amazing feats because it's molded around the skull of her late father, Carmine, himself a former superhero (who still talks to her from within the ball).

Now expanded to a sextet, the group comes under the tutelage of Sphinx (Wes Studi), who is, as the Blue Rajah says, "terribly mysterious". With his oracular pronouncements, Sphinx is the epitome of every Oriental or Native American spiritual guru ever seen in a movie or TV show, and none of the gang can resist his allure—except, that is, for Mr. Furious, who finds himself displaced as the group's leader and is, well, furious about it. The gang almost breaks up, but reunites in the face of danger, because . . . do I have to spell it out?

Logistical support is provided by Doc Heller (Tom Waits), an inventor who specializes in "non-lethal" weaponry such as the blamethrower, which immediately causes your enemies to start arguing with each other about whose fault everything is. Essential banter is provided by Tony P (Eddie Izzard) and Tony C (Prakazrel Michel), leaders of the Disco Boys, Champion City's most notorious gang. In a movie filled with threatened wrongdoing, their clothes may be the most offensive crime of all.

Mystery Men Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In the ongoing saga of Universal's catalog titles on Blu-ray, Mystery Men falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. Designed to look as unnatural as possible and photographed by cinematographer Stephen H. Burum (The Untouchables, The Shadow, the first Mission Impossible) with a comic book sheen, this is the rare Blu-ray of which I can confidently say that it should "pop" more than it does. The 1080p, VC-1-encoded image reveals an acceptable level of fine detail in the elaborately designed sets and costumes, and the wide array of colors is well enough represented to distinguish among the many environments of Champion City. But contrast is somewhat understated, and blacks are slightly crushed, which gives a dimness to the image overall. It's almost as if the colorist were afraid that accentuating the image to the proper levels would call too much attention to the natural film grain that remains visible in the background, if you look for it—and, as I have noted elsewhere, Universal's current philosophy seems to be to minimize visible film grain to the extent possible, without stripping away any detail. In this instance, the result isn't a disaster, but the image doesn't reflect the visual exuberance it should have. At least there were no compression errors.

Mystery Men Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1, the soundtrack for Mystery Men is a playful affair, with frequent occurrences of foley effects and voices in the rear channels. The Bowler's self-guided ball, accompanied by an unearthly Cylon-like hum, provides some interesting pans, and the sustained concluding sequence of the assault on Casanova Frankenstein's mansion has enough crashing, explosions, gunfire and psycho-frakulating (you'll know it when you hear it) to keep all parts of a 5.1 sound system active and engaged. Bass extension is sufficient to have impact, though nothing on a par with the best contemporary soundtracks (e.g., the Transformers films). The dialogue is clear enough to hear every goofy exchange, even with Geoffrey Rush's exaggerated (and unidentifiable) accent. The ripely comic score by Stephen Warbeck (Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love) has just the right touch of overstatement.

Mystery Men Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As has become Universal's custom, the Mystery Men Blu-ray has no main menu. Expect this user-unfriendly practice to continue, unless enough people complain.

The extras supplied with Mystery Men have been shrinking ever since the 2000 DVD release. The Blu-ray even omits a few that were included on the HD-DVD released in 2007.

The following were only on the DVD:

• Production Notes
• Cast and Filmmakers
• Universal Showcase and Recommendations (trailers for Man on the Moon, Snow Falling on Cedars, Army of Darkness, American Pie and Darkman)
• DVD-ROM features, including links to the Universal website and a Mystery Man game.

The following were only on the HD-DVD and DVD:

• Universal Soundtrack Presentation, which was essentially a music video for the song "Who Are Those Mystery Men" by Kel and the M.A.F.T. Emcees (which plays during the closing credits), followed by an ad for the film's soundtrack.
• The Origin of the Mystery Men Comic Book Characters, a series of text screens recounting the original conception of the Mystery Men as sidekicks to the character known as "Flaming Carrot".

The following were on the DVD and HD-DVD and are now included on the Blu-ray:

• Commentary with Director Kinka Usher: Usher's commentary isn't dull, but it isn't particularly insightful. Too much consists of descriptions of visual jokes that don't gain from description. The useful parts are where Usher points out ad libs (of which there were many), describes scenes that had to be deleted for running time (many of which are included in the "Deleted Scenes" section), and recounts anecdotes from the set (e.g., Ben Stiller reacting while his mother, Anne Meara, read the lines off-camera that are spoken in the film by Sally (Gayle Vance), Roy's harpy of a boss, and Stiller's father, Jerry, sat next to the director; Stiller's famous parents were visiting the set that day).


• Deleted Scenes (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 19:40): There are ten scenes, including some early trims providing an expanded look at the home lives of Shoveler and Blue Rajah, an alternate introduction to the Sphinx, and the original version (without effects) of the psycho-frakulator's destruction.


• Spotlight on Location: The Making of Mystery Men (SD; 1.33:1; 17:40): A reasonably entertaining behind-the-scenes featurette that includes interviews with most of the principal cast.


• Theatrical Trailer (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 2:26): "In a place called Champion City . . . "

Mystery Men Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe Mystery Men was made too soon. Audiences in 1999 may not have been ready for a comedy about cut-rate superheroes. Today we've all been exposed to a much wider variety of films based on the Marvel and DC catalogs. We've also seen Kick-Ass (which did much better box office than Mystery Men). The national mood has changed as well. In the prosperous and optimistic Nineties, the blue collar and middle class frustrations of Mystery Men's heroes may have struck some viewers as pitiful. In today's straitened economic climate, their aspiration, through sheer will, to be something more than their limited circumstances should allow, would fit right in.

Of course, today much of the existing cast would be too old for their parts, and you wouldn't get the perfectly meshed ensemble that made the existing film. Every time I watch Mystery Men, a different element grabs my attention and stands out as particularly inspired. This time, it was Tom Waits's Doc Heller, whose relaxed self-assurance outmatches even that of the inscrutable Sphinx. After he shows the gang his advanced non-lethal weaponry, the Shoveller exclaims, "Doc, you are a genius!". To which Heller replies with a shrug: "That's what it says on the card." But Heller's card, which he's previously handed over, doesn't say that. Instead, it's a word salad of bizarre occupations, all of them incongruous, none of them "genius": "Weapons Designer, Innovator, Inventor, World Changer", with specialties in "Carnival Rides", "Aromatherapy", "Laser Hair Removal" and "Chicken Rentals". Still, I guess anyone who pursues all those trades at the same time might consider himself a genius. Who knows? (I love absurdist humor.)

Although the Blu-ray of Mystery Men isn't the best it could be, it's the best the film has looked since the theater, and Universal is unlikely to revisit it anytime soon. The film itself is highly recommended.