A film review by Gio Corsi Copyright © 1999 Gio Corsi

Welcome to Champion City, home of Captain Amazing, the greatest hero citizens have ever known. He's so good in fact that there is hardly any more crime left to clean up and he's losing all of his corporate sponsors so he manages to free his greatest rival, Casanova Frankenstein. Of course Frankenstein has been waiting 20 years for this moment and manages to capture Captain Amazing, so he can hold the city ransom. With Champion City gripped in fear, and it's greatest hero nowhere to be found, who's gonna save the day? Well... the other guys.

MYSTERY MEN is a funny movie, the heroes are funny (The Shoveler? He's real good at shoveling or how about Invisible Boy, he only becomes invisible when nobody is looking at him), the comic book references are funny (of course Lance isn't Captain Amazing, Lance wears glasses, Amazing doesn't.) The costumes are funny but it's not the funniest movie I've ever seen. To be honest, even though I laughed, I was expecting to laugh more like I did when I saw AMERICAN PIE. But make no mistake, MYSTERY MEN is enjoyable.

Featuring an all-star cast and I do mean all-star... look at this line up; Greg Kinnear (AS GOOD AS IT GETS), Geoffrey Rush (SHINE), Ben Stiller (THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY), William H. Macy (FARGO), Paul Reubens (PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE), Clare Forlani (MEET JOE BLACK), Hank Azaria (GODZILLA), Jeanne Garafolo (THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS & DOGS) and Wes Studi (HEAT). It's obvious that the cast is having a blast making this movie, (I mean how could you not with the sheer lucidity of it all) the characters they have devised are absolutely out there. My favorites have to be The Disco Boys, the right hand men to the evil Casanova Frankenstein. Each time they appear on screen a different disco tune is playing, their costumes are outlandish and their fighting moves are all old disco dances, it's great.

Alas, every silver lining has a cloud and so does MYSTERY MEN. For me, it's weakest link was in the directing of the film. Kinka Usher (known only for his Taco Bell commercials) makes his feature film debut and it seems that sometimes he is lost within his own movie. Awkward camera angles, inappropriate shots and lots of slick commercial-style work tend to weaken the film as a whole instead of strengthening it. Also, with a movie this big and so many characters to play with, it's easy for the script to have some plot-holes in it and sure enough it does, but I have seen worse... much worse (can anyone say GODZILLA? Or how about METEOR MAN?) Luckily, some of the characters make up for this with their off-the-wall performances. Greg Kinnear's Captain Amazing is truly a treat, as is William H. Macy's blue-collar hero, the Shoveler and Wes Studi's fortune-cookie-wisdom-spewing, The Sphinx.

It isn't the greatest comedy of the summer but it sure is a fun ride. MYSTERY MEN will keep you smiling with it's great sets, it's great costumes and over-the-top wannabe superheroes. Leave your brain at the door and go have an adventure in Champion City... in my opinion, you'll have a good time but it won't be great.

	Running Time: 120 Min | Rated PG-13 | US Release: August 6th | More >>

Related 'Mystery Men' Links:

• Official Site
• CineMayhem's Mystery Men
• Mystery Men - Matinee Room
• Upcomingmovies.com: Mystery Men

This summer expect the unexpected.