Is the spirit of the Bowler's father really in the bowling ball, or does the Bowler have some form of telekinesis (inherited from her father) and an Imaginary Friend and/or schizophrenia?
Is the Sphinx a genuine Eccentric Mentor or a posturing phony (albeit a well-meaning one) whose proverbs sound profound? Or a bit of both?
The Sphinx is implied to be from Mexico. Perhaps his bizarre proverbs make more sense in Spanish?
Awesome Music: While it wasn't until Shrek that the song truly became the cultural touchstone that it still remains today, "All Star" by Smash Mouth still getting its start here is something not forgotten by many and still appreciated in spite of this movie not garnering the same success at the time itself.
As terrifying as his death is, Captain Amazing death via psycho-fraculation is as welldeserved as it is selfinflicted. You might even cheer for it given how he spends his last few moments insulting the Mystery Men.
Mr. Furious throwing Casanova into his own death ray where's basically destroyed the same way Amazing was—and all of Champion City almost was—is also an appropriately and appreciated karmic demise as well.
Complete Monster: In this otherwise-comedic film, the vicious Casanova Frankenstein is released from the asylum he's been in for twenty years. Showing he hasn't changed in the slightest, Casanova promptly blows the Asylum up and abducts his old nemesis Captain Amazing, who had him released in the first place out of boredom. Planning to create the greatest act of evil Champion City has ever seen, Casanova unveils the Psycho-Frakulator that will painfully warp reality and kill every citizen in the city. Delighted by his own evil, Casanova even kills his own henchmen just to prove a point to the heroes when they try to stop him and abducts hero Mr. Furious's girlfriend with obvious lewd intentions before attempting to annihilate the city with them.
Cult Classic: The film came out back when Superhero movies were still kind of a niche genre and the Batman Film Series had gone through its late-Schumacher phase, so an action-comedy movie based around the idea wasn't going to be winning any Oscars. It has since developed a fanbase who love it as a hidden gem of the late 90's, mocking a lot of Superhero cliches back when it was fresh and new while still telling an uplifting "zero to hero" tale. Today, Alamo Drafthouse does annual screenings of it.
Lance Hunt pretends to be Captain Amazing's sponsor as cover. Currently, Batman's doing the exact same thing.
Captain Amazing sporting a superhero costume plastered in corporate logos becomes sort of a precursor to the Product Placement costumes of Tiger & Bunny.
During the music video for Smash Mouth's "All Star", the Mystery Men assault the band's limo after Steve cuts in on their hero work. With the song's enormous popularity in the late New 10's and this film's continued obscurity, it now looks like the heroes are mad at being overshadowed by Shrek.
Tony P., leader of the Disco Boys, bears a strong resemblance to Ricky◊ from Trailer Park Boys with his blond pompadour and moustache/half-goatee facial hair. They both even have outdated lifestyles.
Casanova Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum he'd been locked up in for twenty years, killing a lot of people in the process—not because he hated the place, but simply because he wanted to speak to Captain Amazing. Later, he sadistically kills several of his henchmen just to prove a point.
Captain Amazing arranges Casanova Frankenstein's release from the insane asylum, knowing damn well that the villain hasn't changed a bit and will launch an attack on the city as soon as he gets an opportunity. His motive? To keep his corporate sponsors and to satisfy his massive ego.
Dane Cook appears as the Waffle Man aka The Waffler during the superhero try-outs.
Also Doug Jones is Pencil Head in the aforementioned auditions.
Cee Lo Green to those who have known him post-"Crazy" as a member of the Not So Goodie Mob.
Sung Kang appears as a henchman during the big villain gang get-together; it was his first film credit.
Unintentional Period Piece: Aside from some time period specific jokes and references, as well as its overall aesthetic, this retrospective piece on the movie points out that the film came out at a time when superhero movies were still generally considered campy and something only for the fanboys and the genre was still shakily trying to figure itself out, with more missteps than actual hits, a very far cry from how superhero movies would become massive pop culture juggernauts a decade later by striking the right balance between fun and serious.
If Mystery Men has value today, it’s as a time capsule, for a period when expensive movies had no idea what to do with funny people and when satirical superhero movies didn’t really have much to satirize.
Comic:
Complete Monster: The General is a corrupt military official operating in Depression-Era America. He is the leader of a group of corrupt industrialists called the Board, who control the economy and are drawing out the Depression for their own economic benefit. The General is allied with Nox—based on the Greek Goddess Nyx—who demands sacrifices in exchange for power. The General sacrifices a Broadway actress and tries to frame his son for the crime. The General is also a pedophile, wanting to sleep with an underage prostitute. The General slaughters an entire town to help Nox regain her power. To gain ultimate power, Nox and the General devise a plan to kidnap several children and sacrifice them on the Summer solstice. When one of the Board members opposes this plan, the General kills him.
to Ricky
