Mystery Men

Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 6, 1999

5.7	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 116 Ratings

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Seraphina85Oct 4, 2014

This movie great if your high and you've sold your soul to the devil to act for just the sake of art that has no redeeming qualities, save a great stoner film. There is something seriously wrong with this film, it make me want to cry when IThis movie great if your high and you've sold your soul to the devil to act for just the sake of art that has no redeeming qualities, save a great stoner film. There is something seriously wrong with this film, it make me want to cry when I think of 68 million dollar budget. It sickens me and it should sicken all civilized people of the world. It is NOT surprising it made nothing at the box office. Darkness is here and those in the light aren't buying. Give me my medical marijuana.… Expand

13 of 14 users found this helpful131

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KarthXLRMar 25, 2011

A movie with an interesting premise with a boring result. The jokes can hardly be called "funny" because half the time they're too dumb or light-hearted to make you laugh. The effects are nice, but they're wasted on a movie that simplyA movie with an interesting premise with a boring result. The jokes can hardly be called "funny" because half the time they're too dumb or light-hearted to make you laugh. The effects are nice, but they're wasted on a movie that simply doesn't deliver in the end.… Expand

4 of 13 users found this helpful49

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TheCrazyCriticOct 28, 2017

This movie although being very clumsy at times mixes two of my favourite genres (superheroes and comedy) and for once can do it in a good, creative and funny way.

1 of 8 users found this helpful17

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SuperheroMoviesAug 8, 2013

Absolutely hysterical and exceptionally well cast, this parody of superhero movies delivers more than just laughs, it provides striking special effects and characters that can only be described as lovable when it's all said and done.

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

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Voodoo123Nov 23, 2022

Mystery men explores a twist on the superhero movie genre where we instead follow a group of underdogs with a range of sub tier skills and powers (most of which don't surface until the end of the movie). Sadly the weight of the bad pacing isMystery men explores a twist on the superhero movie genre where we instead follow a group of underdogs with a range of sub tier skills and powers (most of which don't surface until the end of the movie). Sadly the weight of the bad pacing is overwhelming . The 'action scenes' lack the punch of any good superhero movie and the comedy is mostly a miss due to the nature of difficulty in selling the audience on canned jokes in an effects driven movie like this.

We suffer at the whim of a mixture of distracting close ups and an editing style that is typical of the edgier late 90s movie industry for anything targeting a younger audience. Nonetheless the film has heart and despite a screenplay that has clearly had too many writers revision it still serves to entertain through the great casting. A fascinating mess of a big budget film.

If you liked this though see the tick animation and for something modern try peacemaker or Deadpool.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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DawdlingPoetNov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a wacky fantasy comedy suitable for most of the family (read on for more on that), which covers themes including fitting in, companionship, It looks visually, while not completely full of CGI, quite comic and somewhat fantastical - it'll appeal to a majority of children, given the interesting cityscapes and the characters unpredictable actions. It is relatively entertaining and fairly unpredictable for the most part. I thought the camerawork was quite good in that it often uses smooth pan/wide shots, zooming in on the relevant area where the scene is set - it alows the viewer to take in the surrounding area and it felt quite good. The characters are rather eccentric and the term bumbling certainly came to mind. Its a case of it being one of those films where the good guys are so painfully unprofessional but they seem like, at the heart of it, decent people, so you (as a viewer) tend to begrudgingly be on their side.

The film features some fun disco tunes in the soundtrack - lets put it this way, it isn't a film that takes itself overly seriously and thats just as well, as its not one thats easy to take very seriously, given the tone, genre, character types and everything. Its not an overly long film, with a total running time of just under two hours its ok - I'd say its fairly entertaining, although its not exactly a massively remarkable film or anything like that, as you've probably realised by now. I thought it was a fairly dialogue heavy film in parts, which could bore younger viewers but on the other hand, it is clearly intended for a relatively young target audience, given that the comedy is quite crude (think toilet humour and the like - youngish boys would likely get a laugh out of some scenes) and there's a decent amount of slapstick comedy. Its not greatly original but I felt it was entertaining all the same. I watch some superhero/Marvel/DC related films from time to time but I wouldn't say I'm a particularly massive fan of that genre as such, so this as a light hearted parody of that type of film didn't offend me. Perhaps some of the content was a little obvious but then, to be fair (I'm not saying this is a good thing as such, for the record) I didn't expect a great deal from it. To be honest, I bought it on DVD from a branch of Poundland earlier this year and for £1, I really can't complain - it was certainly cheaper than renting it. As far as the plot pace is concerned, as I say its dialogue heavy in parts but there are other parts/scenes which are a bit more action packed, with a faster pace. I think it tries a little too hard to be both a character driven film with some potential modicum of depth and a generally entertaining parody style comedy film.

Content wise, this film contains some mild profanities, drug references and some comic/mild violence (what you might see depicted in comic strips and the like), plus one or two mild sex references but nothing very graphic or explicit. As I say it contains toilet based comedy, so expect crude jokes, nothing too racy but the age old 'pull my finger' one is featured multiple times, for one example.

Otherwise, unsurprisingly its not particularly frightening in tone or appearance and thus it carries a PG rating. Very young children would probably get a bit bored by this during the more dialogue heavy scenes, although perhaps pre-teens (age 9 or 10 and older) may enjoy it for the crude humour and the more visual action scenes. All in all, this isn't a toe-curlingly awful film but its not a great one either. Overall it felt quite mediocre, like the sort of family film that might be shown on TV on a Sunday evening during the holidays maybe, although I hadn't heard of it until I bought it. Older kids (as in those who are ok watching live action films and not only animated films, if this helps to clarify that point) would probably enjoy it overall and its a relatively, pretty unoffensive film thus is suitable for most of the family but its hardly a film worth going out of your way to see - I wouldn't have wanted to pay more than the £1 I paid to get it, put it that way (well ok, maybe £1.50 at a strech?). If there's nothing else on TV and your looking for something to watch with your kids, then you could do worse - its mildly amusing but it lets itself down during the scenes that are a bit more dull and dialogue heavy, so I'll go for the 'middle of the road' 5 out of 10 rating in this case.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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