Mystery Men

Mystery Men
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kinka Usher
Written by	Neil Cuthbert
Based on	Flaming Carrot Comics by Bob Burden
Produced by	Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin Mike Richardson
Starring	Hank Azaria Claire Forlani Janeane Garofalo Eddie Izzard Greg Kinnear William H. Macy Kel Mitchell Lena Olin Paul Reubens Geoffrey Rush Wes Studi Tom Waits
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Edited by	Conrad Buff
Music by	Stephen Warbeck
Production companies	Golar Productions Dark Horse Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	July 22, 1999 (1999-07-22) (Premiere) August 6, 1999 (1999-08-06)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$68 million
Box office	$33.5 million

Mystery Men is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher (in his feature-length directorial debut), written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics, starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Greg Kinnear, Claire Forlani, Kel Mitchell, Paul Reubens, Janeane Garofalo, Wes Studi, Geoffrey Rush, Lena Olin, Eddie Izzard, and Tom Waits. The film details the story of a team of lesser superheroes with unimpressive powers who are required to save the day from a criminal genius when Champion City's resident superhero gets captured.

Mystery Men received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $33 million worldwide against a $68 million budget.

Plot

In Champion City, an unnamed amateur superhero team consisting of Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja attempt to make a name for themselves, but their inexperience, infighting, and dubious abilities generally result in defeat and frustration while powerful and arrogant superhero, Captain Amazing, consistently upstages them. Unbeknownst to them, his corporate sponsors are threatening to rescind their support due to his crimefighting prowess making his job obsolete and most of his adversaries being unavailable. In response, Amazing uses his secret identity, billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of his nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein, from an insane asylum. Upon his release, Casanova reunites with his henchmen, the Disco Boys, destroys the asylum, easily outwits and captures Amazing, and prepares to use a reality-bending machine called the "Psycho-frakulator" to destroy Champion City.

Meanwhile, Furious stakes out Casanova's mansion, witnesses Amazing's capture, and informs his teammates. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt, they realize they need more allies. Through word-of-mouth and auditions, they recruit Invisible Boy, the Spleen, and the Bowler. Emboldened, they vandalize Casanova's limousine; annoying him. Later that night, the team get drunk celebrating their perceived victory before they are attacked by the Disco Boys, who seek to kill them in retaliation. Though they are saved by the Sphinx, an enigmatic superhero who agrees to train them, Furious grows frustrated by his unconventional team-building exercises and antimetabolic rhetoric and leaves. Nonetheless, the others flourish under his tutelage. As the group seek out Doc Heller, a mad scientist who specializes in quirky non-lethal weaponry, for further help, Furious is encouraged by his new girlfriend, Monica, to rejoin the team.

Amidst a summit Casanova is holding for several of the city's gangs, the team attempt to free Amazing. However, his confusing instructions and condescending attitude lead to them inadvertently killing him with the Psycho-frakulator. The team despairs over this until the Shoveler inspires them to continue. Through a combination of surprise, teamwork, maximizing their powers, and Heller's weapons, the team successfully assault Casanova's mansion and subdue most of his henchmen. Casanova reveals he has taken Monica hostage and activates the Psycho-frakulator, but Furious defeats and kills him while the others help the Bowler destroy the machine before escaping the imploding mansion.

Afterward, the team is swarmed by reporters demanding to know their group's name, sparking an argument amongst themselves.

Cast

• Ben Stiller as Roy / Mr. Furious, an amateur superhero who derives power from his rage, which enhances his strength and agility.
• Hank Azaria as Jeffery / Blue Raja, an amateur superhero with superhuman vision and accuracy, with cutlery being his preferred means.
• William H. Macy as Eddie / Shoveler, a quarry worker turned amateur superhero with superhuman agility and cunning who wields a shovel as a weapon.
• Greg Kinnear as Lance Hunt / Captain Amazing, Champion City's local superhero and a billionaire lawyer.
• Kel Mitchell as Invisible Boy, an amateur superhero who can become invisible if nobody is looking at him.
• Paul Reubens as Spleen, an amateur superhero whose flatulence makes others faint.
• Janeane Garofalo as Carol / Bowler, an amateur superhero with psychic powers and whose crystal bowling ball contains the skull of her dead father, Carmine the Bowler, who died fighting the Disco Boys.
• Wes Studi as The Sphinx, a mysterious superhero who can use his mind to cut weapons in half.
• Claire Forlani as Monica, a waitress and Roy's love interest.
• Geoffrey Rush as Casanova Frankenstein, a criminal genius.
• Lena Olin as Dr. Anabel Leek, Casanova's prison psychiatrist and love interest.
• Eddie Izzard as Tony P., Casanova Frankenstein's right-hand man and leader of the Disco Boys gang.
• Tom Waits as Doc Heller, a mad scientist who makes non-lethal weaponry.
• Artie Lange as Big Red, the leader of The Red Eyes gang.
• Louise Lasser as Violet, Blue Raja's mother.
• Ricky Jay as Vic Weems, Captain Amazing's publicist.
• Jenifer Lewis as Lucille, the Shoveler's wife.
• Prakazrel Michel as Tony C., a member of the Disco Boys.
• Ned Bellamy as Funk
• Goodie Mob as The Not-So-Goody Mob, a Champion City gang and allies of Casanova Frankenstein.

Additionally, Corbin Bleu and Philip Bolden respectively appear as Butch and Roland, the Shoveler and Lucille's sons. Television personality Riki Rachtman and filmmaker Michael Bay appear as members of the Frat Boys gang. Composer Mark Mothersbaugh appears as a band leader while Sung Kang makes a cameo appearance. Additionally, Dane Cook, Doug Jones, Vincent Bowman, and Dana Gould make cameo appearances as superhero auditionees the Waffler, Pencilhead, Son of Pencilhead, and Squeegeeman.

Production

Development

In 1997, Mike Richardson, publisher of Dark Horse Comics, pitched the "Mystery Men" concept to producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin at Universal. "My first impression was just how relatable the characters are," Levin said "Bob [Burden] has a real surrealistic sensibility, but at the core of his work is something that's thematically so identifiable. I think there is an almost childlike persistence of all the characters. And they ultimately hold on to the conviction that with courage and sacrifice, they can become what they dream."

The film was announced in mid-1997 along with a raft of comic book adaptations including Blade, Virus, Superman Lives, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Captain America, The Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Daredevil and Silver Surfer, Hellboy, Concrete, Green Hornet and 26 other titles.

Casting

That fall, Danny DeVito was in talks for a $13-million deal to both star and direct, but negotiations broke down over who would produce the soundtrack. "It was a big deal for me," DeVito said. "I really wanted it, so I walked away from the project." Ben Stiller was then approached to rewrite the script and direct but eventually turned it down. "I decided I didn't want to do it," he explained, "because it was just too much. It was a huge movie I'd be taking on."

Commercial director Kinka Usher was signed in April 1998 to direct. Usher had won awards for the "Got Milk?" and Taco Bell Chihuahua campaigns. Usher, who had been approached for other films, was discouraged when he saw the script for Mystery Men. "I thought it was boring," he said. "However, the premise was great." He continued, "Most of the movies made by commercial directors are heavy on visuals and thin on content. I don't want to be a part of that. I was very cognizant of showing that I know how to work with character."

Garofalo signed on and persuaded Stiller to appear in the film. "I met Kinka and he was nice and funny and the money was good, so I decided to do it," she said. "I had to twist Ben's arm because he's always so busy."

Stiller was originally offered the Blue Raja role, but was not interested in playing what he called a "nerdy guy" again. "The minute you start doing the same thing in comedy, people go, 'Oh, I've seen that,'" he said. He took the role of Mr. Furious but explained, "In the original script, he was just angry all the time, but I thought that would be boring, so one of the changes I made is that he has the least power. Like if we're a band, I'm the guy who started the band but who's also the least talented."

Geoffrey Rush was cast in what was his first Hollywood film in July, followed by Azaria, Reubens, Forlani and Macy. Lena Olin was added in August; Greg Kinnear in October; and Eddie Izzard in November. Others in consideration for roles included Ving Rhames and Vince Vaughn.

Writing

Reubens said, "I liked the idea. I hadn't seen it before. I loved the cast that was assembled by the time I came into it, and I thought the script was fun, smart and goofy all at the same time." Regarding his character, he said, "I felt I was playing the character as kind of slow, but when I saw the movie it didn't seem like that at all. I don't know what that says."

According to Stiller, the script was fluid. "The script was being reworked all the time by... everybody! Because everybody kind of wanted to personalize their part, and try to make it as funny as possible. So yeah, that was welcome. That was the idea we had going in, to just have everybody kind of get together and try to make it as funny as we could. Especially in the context of a big action, special effects type movie. You know, a lot of the time what gets lost is the specific character stuff, and the small moments that really have to work for the whole thing to work. So that's what we were concentrating on as much as possible. And it's good if everybody's on board with that, you know what I mean? And I think Hank, myself and Paul and Janeane were probably most involved in that process, for our characters. We're used to working that way."

Usher said, "We did a lot of unscripted stuff. I let Ben and Janeane go. They were totally free." Usher said he wanted "the film to look flat, like a comic book. I tried to capture that alternate reality but keep the edgy humor."

Filming

Shooting began on October 21, 1998, in Los Angeles, and was completed the following April. "I thought it would be quick, but it ended up being this six month shoot," Stiller recalled.

Bob Burden was on the set for some of the shoot, answering questions that came up about his creations. "There were times when we were kind of stumped in a scene and we asked him what he thought," Levin said. "The great thing about him is that 10 minutes later, we'd get 30 pages in the fax machine with probably 29 pages filled with the lousiest ideas that you've ever read but that one page of pure genius."

The original ending was unpopular with test audiences, so Usher shot a new one with what he called "a big-cheer finish."

Music

The musical score for Mystery Men was composed by Stephen Warbeck. Written within a 28-day time span, the score was recorded on the Sony Scoring Stage. "I was quite liberal in the choice of instruments, because I've chosen a couple of Hungarian instruments, the tárogató and the cimbalom, and also a Greek instrument, the bouzouki," said Warbeck on the film's range of sounds. "And then Mike Fisher and the other percussionists have brought along an exciting range of stuff which are so interesting and varied that we keep picking bits of those and adding them in." After Warbeck's contributions were completed, the film's producers decided to alter various scenes. Because of this, composer Shirley Walker was brought in to create additional music and rearrange Warbeck's score to fit the new running time.

A soundtrack album was released on July 6, 1999, by Interscope Records. the album spawned two singles, "All Star", and "Who Are Those Mystery Men".

The soundtrack album’s first single, the recently recorded "All Star" by the California rock band Smash Mouth (which was heard during the end credits of the movie) became a critically and massively successful international hit after their manager Robert Hayes licensed it for the film’s official soundtrack. And to promote it, a music video directed by McG was made featuring footage from the film. It became their signature song, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, nominated for the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, and it was later licensed to be used in many films, TV shows, commercials and more.

Track listing

No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Back In 1999"	John Oszajca	3:45
2.	"All Star"	Smash Mouth	3:19
3.	"Keep Keep Movin'"	Dub Pistols	3:42
4.	"The Mystery Men Mantra" (feat. Terry Bradford, Will Wheaton & Nancye Ferguson)	Mark Mothersbaugh	4:11
5.	"No Way"	Freak Power	4:14
6.	"Who Are Those Mystery Men"	Kel and the M.A.F.T. Emcees Feat. Romaine Jones	4:08
7.	"Rainy Day Parade"	Jill Sobule	3:05
8.	"Sometimes"	Michael Franti & Spearhead	3:48
9.	"Won't You Come Down"	Spy	4:04
10.	"Gangsters"	Citizen King	2:43
11.	"No More Heroes"	Violent Femmes	2:54
12.	"Indigo"	Moloko	3:34
13.	"Disco Inferno"	The Trammps	3:34
14.	"Night Fever"	Bee Gees	3:30
15.	"Mystery Men Oath"	Ben Stiller & William H. Macy	0:42

Additional songs featured in the film include:

• "Planet Claire" – The B-52s
• "O Mio Babbino Caro" (Composed by Giacomo Puccini) – Miriam Gauci
• "Play That Funky Music" – Wild Cherry
• "A Fifth of Beethoven" - Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band

Release

Box office

Universal delayed the film's release one week to avoid competing with the opening of The Blair Witch Project. In its opening weekend, Mystery Men grossed $10,017,865, ranking number six at the domestic box office. By the end of its run, on October 14, the film had grossed $29,762,011 domestically and $3,699,000 internationally, for a worldwide total of $33,461,011. Given its $68 million budget, the film is a box office bomb.

Critical response

Review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 60% based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The site's consensus states: "Absurd characters and quirky gags are brought to life by a talented cast, providing this superhero spoof with lots of laughs." On Metacritic, the film has a 65 out of 100 rating based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

Godfrey Cheshire for Variety thought the film "may contain more yuks than the summer's other big pop sendup, the second 'Austin Powers,' but it also spreads them over an ultimately tiresome two hours...Though pic boasts several action sequences that are expertly handled and laden with dazzling effects, its most engaging passages by far are the ones focusing on the central sextets' banter and interaction." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Watching 'Mystery Men' is a bit like sitting next to a brilliant person at a dinner party who just won't shut up. Because this film is so self-conscious and, like Mr. Furious and friends, has a tendency to try too hard, it's an effort you end up admiring more than completely loving. Influenced by its betters, films such as Brazil, Buckaroo Banzai and even Blade Runner, it's destined to join them all in cult film heaven."

Jonathan Romney for Sight & Sound said that it was "a desperately hit-and-miss affair". Michael Dequina of The Movie Report said that it "fails to come up with worthy gags and one-liners for the able cast." Steve Murray of Cox News Service 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."

Newsday wrote, "'Mystery Men' manages to exalt both the terminally weird and the frighteningly mundane with such flamboyant good spirits that you overlook its occasional dead zones and dull patches. Try as it might to prop up its static plot, the movie is more comic revue than action comedy. Viewed within these parameters, 'Mystery Men' is as satisfying as a heaping helping of Abbott-and-Costello shorts. And much smarter than the average doofus blockbuster." British television channel Film4 gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, saying it was "Hugely entertaining – especially for those with a thing for superheroes."

Legacy

While Mystery Men was not a hit during release, it has been acknowledged as a cult film. Cast members have generally expressed interest in returning to their roles for a sequel, while acknowledging the unlikelihood of such a sequel happening.

Janeane Garofalo kept her character's skull bowling ball after filming, and enjoys using it as a Halloween decoration.

External links

• Mystery Men at IMDb
• Mystery Men at the TCM Movie Database
• Mystery Men at Letterboxd
• Mystery Men at Box Office Mojo
• Mystery Men at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mystery Men at Metacritic