While I wasn't a huge fan of superheros and comic books growing up, I had absorbed enough of the milieu by osmosis to get all of the in-jokes delivered in Mystery Men, and the material had me cracking up at several turns. Ben Stiller and William H. Macy arguing over Captain Amazing's secret identity is one of the film's funnier moments. All the cast does a good job of capturing the kind of unbased enthusiasm their characters have for their "calling".
Problems? A couple. The humor isn't as strong to the finish as I would have liked. Paul Reubens has a funny enough schtick as The Spleen, but he's hidden under so much makeup and costumes and speaks with a very bad lisp which combine to prevent his ability for gregarious physical comedy to show. Also, none of the villains are given enough time to fully come to fruition.
I'd have dearly loved to hear more of the backstory behind Casanova Frankenstein's genesis, but unfortunately he's just your standard supernemesis. It feels a bit long, and falls a bit flat near the end, but the main characters are well fleshed out enough by that time that you'll be curious to see how the finale plays out.
All in all, it was much better and funnier than I had expected given its poor showing at the box office. I will state, however, that you'd better have a slightly warped sense of humor to truly enjoy this movie.
Problems? A couple. The humor isn't as strong to the finish as I would have liked. Paul Reubens has a funny enough schtick as The Spleen, but he's hidden under so much makeup and costumes and speaks with a very bad lisp which combine to prevent his ability for gregarious physical comedy to show. Also, none of the villains are given enough time to fully come to fruition.
I'd have dearly loved to hear more of the backstory behind Casanova Frankenstein's genesis, but unfortunately he's just your standard supernemesis. It feels a bit long, and falls a bit flat near the end, but the main characters are well fleshed out enough by that time that you'll be curious to see how the finale plays out.
All in all, it was much better and funnier than I had expected given its poor showing at the box office. I will state, however, that you'd better have a slightly warped sense of humor to truly enjoy this movie.