Mystery men

Based on the comic book series “The Dark Horse”, by Bob Burden, “Mystery men” is a twisted take on popular superhero films. In a futuristic city, crime has been all but erased by a vain superhero, Captain Amazing, who, with sponsors to placate, is in need of a supervillian to foil. Amazing’s alter ego paroles psychopath Casanova Frankenstein, jailed in an insane asylum for many years. When Amazing goes missing, it is up to the mystery men of the title to free him. The initial posse consists of Mr Furious (speciality is throwing tantrums), The Shoveller, and The Blue Raja, an expert at fork and spoon throwing. These three decide to expand their gang and recruit Spleen man (poisonous farts), The Bowler, Invisible Boy and The Sphinx who can shave metal with his mind. “Mystery men”, which had a reasonable budget and contains some impressive special effects, lost big money at the box office when it was released. Despite this the film successfully satirises the genre and is loaded with subversive humour that makes it an interesting comedy. The cast of great comedic talents includes Ben Stiller, Janeane Garafolo, Eddie Izzard, Hank Azaria and Paul Reubens.