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Thanks to the work of creatives like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the 1980s were an immensely lucrative time for adventure movies. Whether it was a genre pastiche like Indiana Jones or a time travel comedy like Back To The Future, there was no denying the staying power that many of these 1980s adventure movies had. As the decade wound down, however, their production would slow with an increasing tide of action movies and indie films filling up room.

Adventure films in the 1990s which weren't big-budget spectacles had to adjust their output, appealing to smaller demographics in order to achieve success. This led to a lot of riskier choices, leading to a decade full of odd and underrated attempts to popularize ideas both new and old. Ideas that were deemed impossible for a long time were revitalized for a new era by new technology and changing attitudes. Adventure looked...

Many comic book movies that deviate from the formulaic narrative structure are often dismissed and overlooked, even if they have value within the genre. Movies like Mystery Men and Constantine should be reconsidered for their unique blend of satire, unconventional humor, and departure from traditional comic book tropes. Despite mixed reviews, movies like Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand pushed the boundaries of their respective franchises, exploring complex themes and delivering standout performances.

Comic book movies are notoriously overlooked by the Hollywood elite, but even within the fandom, several incredible movies have not received the admiration they deserve. While some deservedly count among the greatest movies of all time, several comic book adaptations explored themes and storylines that were atypical for the genre. As a result, many were met with critical derision and an unfavorable backlash from audiences. Nevertheless, many of these should be reconsidered for their contribution to the comic book movie genre.

Paul Reubens, the actor best known for portraying the irrepressible, joyfully childlike Pee-wee Herman, died Sunday night after a private bout of cancer. He was 70.

“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” wrote Reubens in a statement posted to Instagram after his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

The Pee-wee Herman character was known for his bright red bowtie, grey suit and flattop haircut, and delivered his well-known catchphrases like “I know you are, but what am I?” in a distinctive squeaky, high-pitched voice.

“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity,...

Easily one of the best films of 1999, Kinka Usher's "Mystery Men" deconstructed the superhero genre before the genre was even ascendant in cinema. Coming only a year after "Blade" and a year before "X-Men," "Mystery Men," based on the works of Bob "The Flaming Carrot" Burden, told the story of outsider superheroes who never got the publicity or the exciting action of the world's more "mainstream" superhero, Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear). Instead, they fought crime with slightly more bizarre crimefighting gimmicks: Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller) got really mad. The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria) threw forks. The Shoveler (William H. Macy) could...

The post Michael Bay Didn't Have Much Fun Playing a Frat Boy For Mystery Men appeared first on /Film.

The answer to the eternal question: What ever happened to the director of ‘Mystery Men’?

The first thing to notice about Kinka Usher’s Twitter account — which we’ll assume is the real deal, even in the absence of a blue check mark — is its profile description: “I directed the movie that actually made All Star by Smash Mouth popular.” As far as legacies go, we can agree this would be an ignoble one, assuming that’s all there was to it. The description does not clarify the movie in question however.

So then, the second thing to notice, after a bit of scrolling, is the title of said movie: Mystery Men. The film, based on marginal superhero characters from an obscure comic book (where my Flaming Carrot fans at?) and released in 1999, stars Ben Stiller, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, and an almost literally unbelievable list of others. Smash Mouth is indeed heard on the soundtrack...

It took a half-hour or so for me to get over my comic bias and accept Matthew Vaughn.s Kick-Ass for what it was: the violent, expletive-laden stepchild of a really solid vigilante tale, and a pretty exciting ride through and through, especially since it contained one of Nic Cage.s most legitimately enjoyable roles of the past decade. And honestly, I.m pretty sure the above clip from Jeff Wadlow.s Kick-Ass 2, courtesy of Movieweb, got me just as excited as anything from that first film. The fact that it brings to mind Kinka Usher.s Mystery Men may have something to do with it. Ten eye gouges full of kudos to Universal for dropping a clip that seems to be at a highly pivotal point in the movie, with Dave .Kick-Ass. Lzewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Mindy .Hit-Girl. Macready (Chloë Grace Moretz) fearlessly standing in front of a...

Feature Aliya Whiteley 25 Mar 2013 - 07:12

In the aftermath of The Avengers, isn't the underrated 1999 superhero movie Mystery Men worth reassessing?

In 1999, between the body blow of Batman And Robin and the kiss of life that was X-Men, the superhero movie was temporarily revived by a loose adaptation of the Flaming Carrot Comics. It was called Mystery Men.

It was panned, lost a lot of money, and years later the lead actor announced that it had been a terrible movie and he was ashamed of it. All of this suggests that it should be pushed under the carpet and left to rot, but there are so many great things about Mystery Men that it really doesn’t deserve that fate, no matter what Ben Stiller says about it.

To start with the plot - at heart, Mystery Men is a film about all pulling together. It’s not a novel...

Kick-Ass is Matthew Vaughn’s canny mainstream imagining of John Romita and Mark Millar’s Marvel Comic about a bunch of psychologically damaged homemade superheroes on self-empowerment rampage. Yes, I felt weird watching 11-year-old Chloe Moretz (she’s 13 now) take part in such violent shootouts. I also queasily admired Vaughn’s seemingly casual but ultimately quite calculated envelope-pushing. There’s some brutish B-movie splatter and the C-word too, but this is not transgressive filmmaking. (Indeed, while watching Kick-Ass I kept wishing I was watching the Takeshi Miike version.) Kinka Usher’s Mystery Men, adapted from Bob Burden’s comic, worked a similar concept over ten years ago, but that film...