Mystery Men

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2:18

Mystery Men

PG-13

1999

2h 0m

Fantasy

Comedy

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

103 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Champion City already has a superhero, the appropriately named Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), but that doesn't deter the city's seven quirky amateur crime-fighters, who use the Captain's capture at the hands of villain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) as motivation to prove themselves. The only problem is that their strange powers -- silverware hurling, bowling, shovel skills, incompetent invisibility and deadly flatulence -- aren't doing them any favors.

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Critics Consensus

Absurd characters and quirky gags are brought to life by a talented cast, providing this superhero spoof with lots of laughs.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

12/26/2010

3/5

Witty comic-book story is edgy, with lots of potty humor.

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

07/15/2010

The characters have been designed to make fun of themselves, disguising the craft of writer Neil Cuthbert and director Kinka Usher in getting us to laugh at them.

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Derek Adams

Time Out

06/24/2006

Usher's amiable spoof of superhero movies takes a brave stab at rewriting the mythology from the inside out, with lots of witty, mildly subversive stuff.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

02/20/2023

3/5

Mystery Men is admirable for its effort but falls short of the standards that we've come to expect in the spoof genre.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

11/25/2022

2/4

A colorful but flavorless dud.

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John Lui

The Straits Times (Singapore)

04/02/2020

4/5

A story that sparkles with emotional warmth, strong jokes and great performances from Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, Lena Olin, Eddie Izzard, Greg Kinnear, William Macy, Geoffrey Rush and Ben Stiller.

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Kass H

01/06/2024

hilarious movie that will have you laughing your ass off

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Andrew O

@RT08565986 Feb 26

Hilarious parody of super hero movies, before they were as big as they are now. Strongly recommend a viewing. I've owned this on VHS, DVD, and blu-ray, and watch it regularly.

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Matt B

@VLVLArt Feb 26

Mystery Men hit theatres in 1999. It continues to be one of my favourite movies, and a great concept: What if Supervillians threatened your city and when help arrives - its just Superhero rejects.

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Jacob P

@urmum Dec 9

Easily one of my favorite "lesser known" movies. If you don't like this movie, then maybe we shouldn't be friends.

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Michael D L

@Mlelijr77 May 20

An underrated action movie that is actually enjoyable

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ienjoypaste T

@RT65519881 03/17/2025

This is, in my opinion, THE superhero parody. It's a spot on lampooning of the MCU done before the MCU existed. The characters are gloriously wacky and unhinged in a way that speaks of a deep and profound love of four-color comics, and the art direction is - bar none - THE best art direction I have seen in ANY superhero movie, period, ever, over and out. It's worth a watch. Or three.

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Kinka Usher

Director

Hank Azaria

The Blue Raja

Janeane Garofalo

The Bowler

William H. Macy

The Shoveller

Kel Mitchell

The Invisible Boy

Paul Reubens

The Spleen

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Superhero Auditions

1:50

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Superhero Training

3:02

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Confronting Casanova

2:55

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Rallying the Team

2:06

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Captain Amazing's Idea

1:14

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Mr. Furious Holds Back

1:30

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Silent and Deadly

2:06

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Dinner Full of Bicker

2:48

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Capturing Captain Amazing

2:23

Mystery Men: Official Clip - Mr. Furious Gets Mad

2:13

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Mystery Men: Trailer 1

2:18

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Synopsis

Champion City already has a superhero, the appropriately named Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear), but that doesn't deter the city's seven quirky amateur crime-fighters, who use the Captain's capture at the hands of villain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) as motivation to prove themselves. The only problem is that their strange powers -- silverware hurling, bowling, shovel skills, incompetent invisibility and deadly flatulence -- aren't doing them any favors.

Director: Kinka Usher
Producer: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Mike Richardson
Screenwriter: Bob Burden, Neil Cuthbert
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Dark Horse Entertainment, Lawrence Gordon Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 6, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $29.8M
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Surround

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