A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: : Mystery Men

Date Viewed: 8/8/99

Details:

Ben Stiller

William H. Macy

Janeane Garofalo

Greg Kinnear

Geoffrey Rush

Lena Olin

Director: Kinka Usher

Score: -

The Review: What happens when the superpowers of good finally triumph over the powers of evil and chaos? We are left with a city in which the most amazing thing that Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear) does is bemoan the loss of corporate sponsors and battle occasional klutzes and morons. The solution? Engineer the release of the past nemesis of Champion City, and reinstate some super-battles to up the ratings and excitement. Only it doesn't quite work out that way, and a bunch of weasels with more imagination than powers decide that they must become the next generation in crime busting. These are the Mystery Men, based on the Dark Horse comic book series, and a stranger bunch of failures and wanna-be's you've seldom encountered. The Sphinx is a masked Robert Bly with the voice of Tonto and the screwy aphorisms of an incoherent Shaolin monk. Bowling Girl (Janeane Garofalo) has one-sided arguments with her dead father's skull and a 2x4 on her shoulder. The Spleen's talent is to emit foul noxious gases. At home, the henpecked Shoveler (William H. Macy) is far from marital bliss. The requisite mad scientist is a weapons developer who specializes only in non-lethal devices. One of the rare amusing scenes is when this group calls for try-outs in hopes of expanding their sorry lot. Most of the remainder is silly and stupid.

Beyond that, the mood of Champion City inherits some bulk and darkness from Tim Burton's first Batman Gotham and some out-of-time gadgets from Brazil; the architecture of Casanova Frankenstein's mansion inherits some oddness from Barcelona's Gaudi. But neither are dark enough or entertaining enough to recommend this movie.

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