Mystery Men: A massive flop I thought was decent
Mystery Men; a film it is entirely likely that you have never heard of despite the high level of stardom that was in the cast (well, they were all pretty big stars at the time - some still are)
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Starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, William H. Macy, Pee-Wee Herman( in what I believe to be one of his first roles after very unfairly having his career ruined,) as well as many other big names - it didn't manage to do very well. This movie was very entertaining to me, likely because of how I feel about most superhero movies and kind of enjoy movies that poke fun at other genres without going too over-the-top like the Scary Movie films.
The gang of Mystery Men have very unconventional powers, some might even argue they aren't really powers. The person with the real powers, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear ) has been too good at fighting crime as an actual super-hero and now he is bored because there are no bad guys left.
Some stuff happens and due to dumb decisions Captain Amazing is captured and there are no real superheros left to do the job so the Mystery Men have to do what they can.
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What makes this movie funny to me is their powers. Being really good with a shovel, having incredible accuracy with throwing forks, and tremendously powerful flatulence doesn't really compare with being able to fly or having super strength. Ben Stiller is called Mr. Furious and his superpower is simply that he gets angry really easy.
This film was largely ignored despite the fact that it got mostly positive reviews and press from professional critics and the movie-goers. It is considered a box-office bomb as it failed to make back even half of its $68 million budget. I enjoyed it and can not explain the failure. I think maybe because it was never going to have much appeal overseas since the lucrative Asian markets tend to enjoy actual superhero movies rather than spoofs of the genre.
I remember finding this quite funny back when I was probably 20 years old. My younger brother, who must have been 10 or 11 at the time liked it a lot.
Some films become better over time, like wine.
I wonder how I would like it now :>)
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you might wanna check out my latest post and leave a comment. I am curious what your opinion on 1970s movies is :>)
just read it... thanks for the tip. I am now following you. You write well.
It was about time ;>)
Cheers and you're welcome! I like to think that I'm a decent writer. I myself tend to follow people that interact with me, whose content I like. I'm glad that I'm not the only one out here who acts that way :>)
Ben stiller, is all I need to know. Meaning skip this movie. ;)
I agree, actual superheros are generally enjoyed a lot. and the scale was pretty different indeed.
Anyways keep flourishing.
Definitely a cult hit. I don't think many people liked the quirky humor in the movie, nor did they know about the comic it was based off of.
I remember taking my little sister to see this when we were like 12 and 9 to this day the film and smashmouth allstar still have a special place in my heart.