Hey there all ye yogi bears, Harry here with a tasty morsel of MYSTERY MEN to see what our food critic Moriarty thought of this dessert dish. If you remember we had a great behind the scenes journey on this film with Robogeek's Journey to the set Part One, Part Two and Part Three which entertained and informed many of you way back then. But now... Well, Moriarty takes a looksee at the 'unfinished product'. He offers up some suggestions on a couple of the films problems, and well.... I'll let the dear Professor take it away.... What did the rest of you think? Especially you? Well, now for the evil genius...
Hey, Head Geek...
"Moriarty" here.
The strangest thing has been happening to me lately.
Every time I've ventured out from the Moriarty Labs
for any sort of geek-related event, I've been
recognized. Perhaps it's my distinctive handlebar
moustache. Perhaps it's the pack of deformed henchmen
I travel with. Perhaps it was me showing up on the
local news the other day to rant and rave about some
STAR WARS related issue. Whatever the case, people
are starting to spot me, and it has me worried. I'm
thinking of adopting a secret identity.
To research the problems inherent to having a secret
identity, I decided to attend a screening tonight of
Universal's late summer superhero comedy MYSTERY MEN.
Although I'm not familiar with Bob Burden's original
comic, I had read the Neil Cuthbert draft of the
script and liked it quite a bit. When they announced
the cast of the film, I was intrigued, and knew this
would be worth keeping an eye on it. The kicker,
though, was seeing all of Robogeek's photos from his
set visit earlier this year. Once I saw that they
were going to go all out and really parody the big
budget superhero movies, I knew I was in.
And the good news is that almost all of this film pays
off. In particular, whoever cast this film deserves a
raise and a vacation. Ben Stiller is hilarious as Mr.
Furious, while William H. Macy brings his customary
dignity and realism to a role as potentially
preposterous as The Shoveler. Rounding out the
original trio that the film focuses on is Hank Azaria,
who is perfect as the Blue Rajah (even though there's
very little blue in his costume and no one seems to
know what a Rajah is exactly), Master of Silverware.
The film opens like any good superhero film should...
with thugs busting up a nursing home. When a movie
starts with a gang that steals an old man's artificial
teeth, eye, and arm, you know you're not watching
anything that could remotely be called "conventional."
As Artie Lang (from MAD TV) and his goons bust the
joint up, they are interrupted by our intrepid trio,
who proceed to get their asses handed to them in a
deeply embarrassing manner. The only reason the thugs
are stopped at all is the appearance of Champion
City's one true superhero, Captain Amazing, played
with a startling amount of charm by Greg Kinnear.
Between this film and YOU'VE GOT MAIL, it seems like
Kinnear has figured out how to finally cut loose as an
actor and really inhabit the characters he plays. He
steals almost every scene he's in this film, which
isn't nearly enough.
There's a lot of characters for the film to introduce,
and the script by Cuthbert and Brent Forrester (THE
BEN STILLER SHOW, IRON GIANT) is excellent at bringing
each of them in without losing the focus on the
original three. Kel Mitchell is good as The Invisible
Boy, Wes Studi is fine as The Sphinx, Tom Waits does
some nice supporting work, and there's some juicy bad
guy hamminess by Geoffrey Rush, Lena Olin, Eddie
Izzard (used much better here than in last year's
horrific THE AVENGERS) and Pras of the Wu Tang Clan.
Still, it was clear who the audience loved from the
way they reacted when both Paul Reubens and Janeane
Garafolo were introduced. Bravo to the producers of
this film for choosing Reubens, a comic genius whose
career has been on hold for far too long now. He
makes The Spleen, a character that plays like a cheap
knockoff of Howard Stern's Fartman, much funnier than
he should be able to, and he manages to be both
disgusting and sweet at the same time. As far as
Janeane is concerned, I love her. I openly proclaim
my love for the gifted Ms. Garafolo right now, right
here. As David Cross pointed out, we are all in love
with Janeane at one point, and I have a feeling a
whole lot of people are going to take their turn when
they get a load of her as The Bowler. She made the
most out of every gag in the film, and there were
several places where she brought the house down.
That's not to say the film was perfect, though. Far
from it, in fact. For one thing, the film does
something that I hate a lot. There's endless amounts
of clever scripting in the film up to the actual
ending, the showdown with Casanova Frankenstein, but
none of that matters when they actually get to the
ending. It turns into just another lousy Hollywood
summer movie where people stand around and look
confused while expensive special effects happen.
And, yes, for those of you who are bound to comment
below, I do know what an unfinished effect is and how
to judge it. I'm not responding to the fact that the
effect isn't perfect. I'm responding to the fact that
nothing interesting happens. There's lights and
colors and twirling things, and none of it is even
remotely interesting. Instead, the characters stand
around untl it's done, then go home. They get a light
show, so do we, and nothing important happens at all.
This is such a cop out after what's come before that I
felt shocked. This movie is so on-target, so funny
for the majority of its running time, that to see it
fall on its face at the end is a shock.
Universal... you don't have to stick hard and fast to
your August 6 date. You can take some extra time and
finish this film up right. Come up with an ending
that's inspired and incorporate it into the film.
Don't leave the mess that's there now intact.
Remember... it's obvious to everyone who saw the film
tonight that it is first and foremost a comedy. Don't
worry about giving us big action at the end. Instead,
worry about giving us the big laughs we deserve after
such a sustained tease.
Director Kinka Usher makes a mixed debut as a feature
director, to say the least. There are moments where
he seems confident and sure about every choice, and
there are other points where his inexperience shows.
I don't think his habit of Terry Gilliam-style
exaggeration is the right way to shoot every single
closeup of a person in the film, but that's a minor
stylistic choice. Overall, he's got a lot of wit and
energy, and he's obviously a fan of the genre.
In fact, if there's any one thing that this film does
well, it's make specific rips on comics while also
demonstrating a deep love of the form. This is satire
that comes from being a fan. I can't give away any of
the big comics-inspired jokes, but I can say that I
loved them all. I laughed long and loud tonight, and
was even moved in an odd way by Stiller's wrestling
with his secret identity (as well as that of Captain
Amazing). His perfunctory love story with Claire
Forlani lets Stiller show that sensitive hangdog side
that keeps landing him romantic comedy leads, but does
nothing at all to make her interesting. I will ask,
though... there seems to be a colossal mistake in the
film. I ask this question directly to Universal as
they consider reshoots and edits. How did Casanova
Frankenstein find Monica, and why does he bring her
back to his place to torture her? And why does he
attack Lena Olin? Is any of that funny? It's just
some random moment that does nothing but confuse and
complicate the film's already muddled ending.
In the end, I guess I can't recommend that you see
this before you see IRON GIANT on August 6, but I
would say that you should make time to see it second.
In fact, treat yourself. Enjoy the embarrassment of
riches that weekend. Hell, if THE MUSE and THE NINTH
GATE are any good, that could turn into one of the
summer's best weekends. As it stands now, comedy fans
can rest easy. Between this film, AUSTIN POWERS 2,
and BIG DADDY, there is plenty to laugh about in
theaters near you.
Right now I have to go work on my disguise for my next
venture out. I'm thinking of being a billionaire
playboy in my secret identity. After all, what's the
point of having one if you don't enjoy it? You
could... that's, um, my secret identity I'm talking
about, you perverts. Jeez... I've gotta go. Until
then...
"Moriarty" out.
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