Director Kinka Usher stays true to his own credo, "Play it straight and they will laugh," and with the help of a superb cast has crafted what should become the #1 cult film of all time, `Mystery Men.' When an evil villain, Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) is released from a mental institution, captures the local superhero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear),and threatens to take over Champion City, three wanna-be superheroes, Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller),The Shoveler (William H. Macy) and The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria) come to the rescue. Frankenstein has been joined by a myriad assortment of underworld scum, however, and has become a formidable opponent. The trio realize that help is needed, and decide to recruit; what they end up with is nothing less than the most unforgettable team of `superheroes' ever assembled in the history of the cinema. Mr. Furious has his rage; The Shoveler, his shovel; The Blue Raja flings silverware (mainly forks, and the occasional spoon, but never a knife); the Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell) can turn invisible as long as no one is watching; the Sphinx (Wes Studi),a heavy hitter from down south, is very mysterious and can break guns in half with his mind. Maybe; the Bowler (Janeane Garofalo) can fling a ball with deadly accuracy; and The Spleen (Paul Reubens) wields flatulence that can incapacitate an entire room. This is a brilliant ensemble piece that delivers the laughs without ever becoming condescending or patronizing the audience, while playing it straight at all times. The dialogue is witty, and the performances given by Stiller, Macy, Azaria and Garofalo are exemplary. There is a number of memorable, hilarious scenes, especially the one in which they throw a pool party and barbecue to recruit, and conduct interviews with a stupefying assemblage of applicants; and another, in a bar, when the Bowler has a conversation with her long-dead father, whose skull has been implanted in her bowling ball. The funniest of all, however, has to be when the team actually attempts to rescue Captain Amazing. But these are only examples, for the entire movie is composed of one hilarious scene after another, laced with subtle humor that will keep you laughing and thinking about it for a long time. The real secret of it's success, though, is that Usher keeps it all real; the relationships between the characters are true, and the whole concept of being a `Superhero' is played as being entirely reasonable, which somehow gives a sense of credibility to the entire proceedings. In this world, the aspirations of Mr. Furious and the rest are tenable, and Usher keeps the laughs coming without ever resorting to slapstick or mere sight gags. The solid supporting cast includes Lena Olin (Dr. Annabel Leek),Eddie Izzard (Tony P.),Tom Waits (Doc Heller),Claire Forlani (Monica),Louise Lasser (The Blue Raja's mother),Jenifer Lewis (Lucille) and Pras (Tony C.). `Mystery Men' is a truly inspired movie that can be seen over and over again, with a new chuckle to be had with every viewing, guaranteed. In the immortal words of the Sphinx, `We are number one! All others are number two, or lower.' Is it an Oscar-worthy movie? Hardly; but for a good time and a lot of laughs, treat yourself to this masterwork of comedy; it's the real deal, and you won't regret it. I rate this one 10/10.

The story is about the lamest group of super-heroes you could imagine. Apart from Janine Garafolo's "Bowler", the rest are amazingly untalented and unimpressive as they try to battle the dark forces of an evil super-villain, "Cassanova Frankenstein". The only one who COULD defeat the bad guy is "Captain Fantastic", who unfortunately was captured by Cassanova and the Mystery Men are forced into action.

I loved the many quirky characters in the film. My favorite was the "Blue Rajah" (played by Hank Azaria). The fact that he dressed in green and tossed spoons (not even forks or knives) at the beginning of the film AND lived with his mother made him a hoot. But the rest were all quirky and silly--making the film a wonderful little comedy.

Of all the films I have ever watched, this seems to be the one with the most polarized reactions to it (even more so than THE HUDSUCKER PROXY). When I first saw it, I loved it and couldn't wait to get others to see it. Surprisingly, again and again, those I watched it with hated it! And over the years, I have met many people who either loved it or hated it--not many in between.

Unfortunately, I really can't say whether or not you will like the film. Those who I know that did were all weird people (like me) and it seemed that the more conventional people just thought the movie was stupid. So depending on which camp you'd place yourself should determine whether or not you give this a try.

I'm not sure why I watched this, as I hate a lot of comedies and I'm sure to avoid the kind of films that Ben Stiller makes in particular. But I do try and watch superhero films, and the synopsis of this one sounded interesting, to say the least: a group of would-be crime-fighters, with pathetic superpowers, attempt to beat an arch villain. There's a premise with potential, if nothing else.

Sadly, what I ended up watching was a heavily sanitised Hollywood film with an oh-so predictable outcome: that by working together and putting faith in each other, this rag-tag group of misfits can end up winning the day. Literally every step of the film is signposted from the beginning, from Stiller's tired romance with an extraneous Claire Forlani to the bad guy's plans for world domination. Even worse, the humour sucks. One guy is flatulent, another guy thinks he's invisible when he's not, and the wit never goes any deeper than that.

I realised, in the end, that I was watching a kid's film made on a totally undemanding level. It's a shame, because there are some fine actors appearing here, not least William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Geoffrey Rush and Wes Studi, but in the end MYSTERY MEN is cheesy, dated and dull. It took another 11 years for a film to put some real bite into a superhero parody: watch KICK-ASS to see how this should have been done.