Maybe I am truly a mental case and should find myself locked up in a padded room and hand in my union card for the Movie Reviewer´s Union. But for some reason, I thoroughly enjoyed "Mystery Men" when it was in theaters. I continued to love the film when it was released onto DVD and my affections have not swayed much now that the film is available on HD-DVD. I find the film to be refreshing, interesting and completely hilarious. Public and critical reception was chilly and the poor theatrical showing nailed shut the franchise coffin. This is disappointing because I would love to see the further adventures of the "Mystery Men."
This mockery of comic book superheroes is well done. A top-notch cast has been brought together and director Kinka Usher brought these comic book misfits to life for his first directorial effort. The film succeeds wonderfully and achieves its goals. I find myself having great troubles trying to find the failure in this picture. I have never been a fan of comic book superheroes and only "Batman" sparks my interest. I feel "Superman" is silly and "X-Men" complete overkill. Perhaps my general dislike of comic book superheroes is why I bonded with this film. I still laugh at just the thought of the scene where two characters discuss that a wealthy citizen cannot be the superhero because he wears glasses.
Incredible actors William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush join notables Hank Azaria, Claire Forlani, Jeanne Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Paul "Pee Wee" Reubens, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi and Tom Waits in this well acted ensemble picture. Each actor brings their character a set of flawed traits that adds to the films direct hit of mocking the popular comic books and the heroes contained on their printed pages. Macy is incredible as usual and how many people ever thought that Pee Wee Herman would commit flatulence in the face of Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush? I have seen knocks on Ben Stiller for his role, but he was just fine as a man with no powers but an inflated ego and bad temper. Wes Studi is simply marvelous as an advice given superhero, but perhaps the only flaw in the film is that he fails to use any of his powers in the climax.
"Mystery Men" is about a band of misfits who believe they have powers. They band together to save the heavily promoted and only true superhero of Champion City, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). The original three heroes consist of The Shoveller (Macy), the fork throwing Blue Raja (Azaria) and their leader, Mr. Furious (Stiller). Without any direction, the three fail to stop any crimes, but their failures do now sway their attempts at trying to be the Superheroes they see themselves to be. When they have their collective arses handed to them by a band of thugs, a decision is made to recruit more members. This finds the Bowler (Garofalo) and the Spleen (Reubens) joining the team, as well as an invisible boy who can only be invisible when nobody is looking. When they find themselves defeated again, they come under the tutelage of the Sphinx (Studi). Finally, after they make some new outfits they are ready to confront Captain Amazing's nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush) and save Amazing.
I tell you again, the film succeeds. It is completely hilarious. The cinematography and set design work perfectly for the picture and Usher shines at the helm of his first major motion picture. Everything comes together well in the film. It looks and sounds great and is full of laughs. I want to blame marketing on this picture and critical backlash from too many critics who need a broom pulled from their rectal area. Don't listen to anybody but me on this one and go see the picture. It's a wild ride that far from disappoints. It is just a shame that these characters will never be revisited for a second battle against crime.
Video:
One of the strengths of "Mystery Men" is in its visuals. A definite comic book look has been achieved with this picture. Bright colors and foreboding dark scenes both make up the look of "Mystery Men." This film takes the visual approach of "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" and puts them where they belong. The two Batman films that tried to achieve a comic book look failed partly because of the visuals, but in "Mystery Men," the look strengthens an already solid film. There is still plenty of neon and the various uniforms are colorful and each frame of "Mystery Men" brings the film´s comic book origins to live-action existence.
Sadly, "Mystery Men" doesn´t improve much over the original standard definition offering. The 1.85:1 picture appears to have been minted from the same master as the old release and simply encoded at a higher resolution for the next generation offering. I have been looking forward to seeing how this great looking film would look on HD-DVD for quite some time, but must admit that I am quite underwhelmed by this release. The plentiful and brilliant colors that make up the picture are slightly improved over the DVD release and are still vivid and well saturated. The film contains many scenes that take place in the shadows and night. The black level of these scenes is very good. Shadow detail is a decent, but not as rich as it could have been on HD-DVD. The source materials are clean and not many flaws can be seen during the film´s length.
This mockery of comic book superheroes is well done. A top-notch cast has been brought together and director Kinka Usher brought these comic book misfits to life for his first directorial effort. The film succeeds wonderfully and achieves its goals. I find myself having great troubles trying to find the failure in this picture. I have never been a fan of comic book superheroes and only "Batman" sparks my interest. I feel "Superman" is silly and "X-Men" complete overkill. Perhaps my general dislike of comic book superheroes is why I bonded with this film. I still laugh at just the thought of the scene where two characters discuss that a wealthy citizen cannot be the superhero because he wears glasses.
Incredible actors William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush join notables Hank Azaria, Claire Forlani, Jeanne Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Paul "Pee Wee" Reubens, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi and Tom Waits in this well acted ensemble picture. Each actor brings their character a set of flawed traits that adds to the films direct hit of mocking the popular comic books and the heroes contained on their printed pages. Macy is incredible as usual and how many people ever thought that Pee Wee Herman would commit flatulence in the face of Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush? I have seen knocks on Ben Stiller for his role, but he was just fine as a man with no powers but an inflated ego and bad temper. Wes Studi is simply marvelous as an advice given superhero, but perhaps the only flaw in the film is that he fails to use any of his powers in the climax.
"Mystery Men" is about a band of misfits who believe they have powers. They band together to save the heavily promoted and only true superhero of Champion City, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). The original three heroes consist of The Shoveller (Macy), the fork throwing Blue Raja (Azaria) and their leader, Mr. Furious (Stiller). Without any direction, the three fail to stop any crimes, but their failures do now sway their attempts at trying to be the Superheroes they see themselves to be. When they have their collective arses handed to them by a band of thugs, a decision is made to recruit more members. This finds the Bowler (Garofalo) and the Spleen (Reubens) joining the team, as well as an invisible boy who can only be invisible when nobody is looking. When they find themselves defeated again, they come under the tutelage of the Sphinx (Studi). Finally, after they make some new outfits they are ready to confront Captain Amazing's nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush) and save Amazing.
I tell you again, the film succeeds. It is completely hilarious. The cinematography and set design work perfectly for the picture and Usher shines at the helm of his first major motion picture. Everything comes together well in the film. It looks and sounds great and is full of laughs. I want to blame marketing on this picture and critical backlash from too many critics who need a broom pulled from their rectal area. Don't listen to anybody but me on this one and go see the picture. It's a wild ride that far from disappoints. It is just a shame that these characters will never be revisited for a second battle against crime.
Video:
One of the strengths of "Mystery Men" is in its visuals. A definite comic book look has been achieved with this picture. Bright colors and foreboding dark scenes both make up the look of "Mystery Men." This film takes the visual approach of "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" and puts them where they belong. The two Batman films that tried to achieve a comic book look failed partly because of the visuals, but in "Mystery Men," the look strengthens an already solid film. There is still plenty of neon and the various uniforms are colorful and each frame of "Mystery Men" brings the film´s comic book origins to live-action existence.
Sadly, "Mystery Men" doesn´t improve much over the original standard definition offering. The 1.85:1 picture appears to have been minted from the same master as the old release and simply encoded at a higher resolution for the next generation offering. I have been looking forward to seeing how this great looking film would look on HD-DVD for quite some time, but must admit that I am quite underwhelmed by this release. The plentiful and brilliant colors that make up the picture are slightly improved over the DVD release and are still vivid and well saturated. The film contains many scenes that take place in the shadows and night. The black level of these scenes is very good. Shadow detail is a decent, but not as rich as it could have been on HD-DVD. The source materials are clean and not many flaws can be seen during the film´s length.
Maybe I am truly a mental case and should find myself locked up in a padded room and hand in my union card for the Movie Reviewer´s Union. But for some reason, I thoroughly enjoyed "Mystery Men" when it was in theaters. I continued to love the film when it was released onto DVD and my affections have not swayed much now that the film is available on HD-DVD. I find the film to be refreshing, interesting and completely hilarious. Public and critical reception was chilly and the poor theatrical showing nailed shut the franchise coffin. This is disappointing because I would love to see the further adventures of the "Mystery Men."
This mockery of comic book superheroes is well done. A top-notch cast has been brought together and director Kinka Usher brought these comic book misfits to life for his first directorial effort. The film succeeds wonderfully and achieves its goals. I find myself having great troubles trying to find the failure in this picture. I have never been a fan of comic book superheroes and only "Batman" sparks my interest. I feel "Superman" is silly and "X-Men" complete overkill. Perhaps my general dislike of comic book superheroes is why I bonded with this film. I still laugh at just the thought of the scene where two characters discuss that a wealthy citizen cannot be the superhero because he wears glasses.
Incredible actors William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush join notables Hank Azaria, Claire Forlani, Jeanne Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Paul "Pee Wee" Reubens, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi and Tom Waits in this well acted ensemble picture. Each actor brings their character a set of flawed traits that adds to the films direct hit of mocking the popular comic books and the heroes contained on their printed pages. Macy is incredible as usual and how many people ever thought that Pee Wee Herman would commit flatulence in the face of Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush? I have seen knocks on Ben Stiller for his role, but he was just fine as a man with no powers but an inflated ego and bad temper. Wes Studi is simply marvelous as an advice given superhero, but perhaps the only flaw in the film is that he fails to use any of his powers in the climax.
"Mystery Men" is about a band of misfits who believe they have powers. They band together to save the heavily promoted and only true superhero of Champion City, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). The original three heroes consist of The Shoveller (Macy), the fork throwing Blue Raja (Azaria) and their leader, Mr. Furious (Stiller). Without any direction, the three fail to stop any crimes, but their failures do now sway their attempts at trying to be the Superheroes they see themselves to be. When they have their collective arses handed to them by a band of thugs, a decision is made to recruit more members. This finds the Bowler (Garofalo) and the Spleen (Reubens) joining the team, as well as an invisible boy who can only be invisible when nobody is looking. When they find themselves defeated again, they come under the tutelage of the Sphinx (Studi). Finally, after they make some new outfits they are ready to confront Captain Amazing's nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush) and save Amazing.
I tell you again, the film succeeds. It is completely hilarious. The cinematography and set design work perfectly for the picture and Usher shines at the helm of his first major motion picture. Everything comes together well in the film. It looks and sounds great and is full of laughs. I want to blame marketing on this picture and critical backlash from too many critics who need a broom pulled from their rectal area. Don't listen to anybody but me on this one and go see the picture. It's a wild ride that far from disappoints. It is just a shame that these characters will never be revisited for a second battle against crime.
Video:
One of the strengths of "Mystery Men" is in its visuals. A definite comic book look has been achieved with this picture. Bright colors and foreboding dark scenes both make up the look of "Mystery Men." This film takes the visual approach of "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" and puts them where they belong. The two Batman films that tried to achieve a comic book look failed partly because of the visuals, but in "Mystery Men," the look strengthens an already solid film. There is still plenty of neon and the various uniforms are colorful and each frame of "Mystery Men" brings the film´s comic book origins to live-action existence.
Sadly, "Mystery Men" doesn´t improve much over the original standard definition offering. The 1.85:1 picture appears to have been minted from the same master as the old release and simply encoded at a higher resolution for the next generation offering. I have been looking forward to seeing how this great looking film would look on HD-DVD for quite some time, but must admit that I am quite underwhelmed by this release. The plentiful and brilliant colors that make up the picture are slightly improved over the DVD release and are still vivid and well saturated. The film contains many scenes that take place in the shadows and night. The black level of these scenes is very good. Shadow detail is a decent, but not as rich as it could have been on HD-DVD. The source materials are clean and not many flaws can be seen during the film´s length.
This mockery of comic book superheroes is well done. A top-notch cast has been brought together and director Kinka Usher brought these comic book misfits to life for his first directorial effort. The film succeeds wonderfully and achieves its goals. I find myself having great troubles trying to find the failure in this picture. I have never been a fan of comic book superheroes and only "Batman" sparks my interest. I feel "Superman" is silly and "X-Men" complete overkill. Perhaps my general dislike of comic book superheroes is why I bonded with this film. I still laugh at just the thought of the scene where two characters discuss that a wealthy citizen cannot be the superhero because he wears glasses.
Incredible actors William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush join notables Hank Azaria, Claire Forlani, Jeanne Garofalo, Greg Kinnear, Paul "Pee Wee" Reubens, Ben Stiller, Wes Studi and Tom Waits in this well acted ensemble picture. Each actor brings their character a set of flawed traits that adds to the films direct hit of mocking the popular comic books and the heroes contained on their printed pages. Macy is incredible as usual and how many people ever thought that Pee Wee Herman would commit flatulence in the face of Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush? I have seen knocks on Ben Stiller for his role, but he was just fine as a man with no powers but an inflated ego and bad temper. Wes Studi is simply marvelous as an advice given superhero, but perhaps the only flaw in the film is that he fails to use any of his powers in the climax.
"Mystery Men" is about a band of misfits who believe they have powers. They band together to save the heavily promoted and only true superhero of Champion City, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). The original three heroes consist of The Shoveller (Macy), the fork throwing Blue Raja (Azaria) and their leader, Mr. Furious (Stiller). Without any direction, the three fail to stop any crimes, but their failures do now sway their attempts at trying to be the Superheroes they see themselves to be. When they have their collective arses handed to them by a band of thugs, a decision is made to recruit more members. This finds the Bowler (Garofalo) and the Spleen (Reubens) joining the team, as well as an invisible boy who can only be invisible when nobody is looking. When they find themselves defeated again, they come under the tutelage of the Sphinx (Studi). Finally, after they make some new outfits they are ready to confront Captain Amazing's nemesis, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush) and save Amazing.
I tell you again, the film succeeds. It is completely hilarious. The cinematography and set design work perfectly for the picture and Usher shines at the helm of his first major motion picture. Everything comes together well in the film. It looks and sounds great and is full of laughs. I want to blame marketing on this picture and critical backlash from too many critics who need a broom pulled from their rectal area. Don't listen to anybody but me on this one and go see the picture. It's a wild ride that far from disappoints. It is just a shame that these characters will never be revisited for a second battle against crime.
Video:
One of the strengths of "Mystery Men" is in its visuals. A definite comic book look has been achieved with this picture. Bright colors and foreboding dark scenes both make up the look of "Mystery Men." This film takes the visual approach of "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" and puts them where they belong. The two Batman films that tried to achieve a comic book look failed partly because of the visuals, but in "Mystery Men," the look strengthens an already solid film. There is still plenty of neon and the various uniforms are colorful and each frame of "Mystery Men" brings the film´s comic book origins to live-action existence.
Sadly, "Mystery Men" doesn´t improve much over the original standard definition offering. The 1.85:1 picture appears to have been minted from the same master as the old release and simply encoded at a higher resolution for the next generation offering. I have been looking forward to seeing how this great looking film would look on HD-DVD for quite some time, but must admit that I am quite underwhelmed by this release. The plentiful and brilliant colors that make up the picture are slightly improved over the DVD release and are still vivid and well saturated. The film contains many scenes that take place in the shadows and night. The black level of these scenes is very good. Shadow detail is a decent, but not as rich as it could have been on HD-DVD. The source materials are clean and not many flaws can be seen during the film´s length.
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