Goggler
Joined Feb 2001
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Reviews8
Goggler's rating
I can't say that this film deserves anywhere near the amount of vitriol being heaped on it by some reviewers. Yes, it's bogged down by an overly-padded running time, hamfisted editing, and an overreliance on cheeseball special effects. And it lacks much of the energy a comedy needs to get your average audience member to sit through it without checking his or her watch.
On the other hand, it's also got some laugh-out-loud funny lines, a talented and earnest cast, and the classic underdog premise. Macy, Stiller, and Azaria are brilliant as the "core" team, and Garofalo and Studi do superb work adding conflict and variety to the team. I can't say Reubens or Mitchell added much to the film overall, though each had a few chances to shine.
The plot, as I said above, is your classic "underdog-makes-good" stuff. No surprises there, since you know they're going to triumph. What makes it worthwhile is not the absurd, gaudy heroes and villains, but the dialogue and interplay between the characters. Underneath it all, these people are children at heart, who just want to do right. The best scenes in the film give this film its emotional grounding. Look at Azaria's relationship with his long-suffering mother; Macy's endearing innocence in his unwillingness to accept Cap. Amazing's secret identity; Stiller's rage (not unlike that one weird, spazzy kid you once knew who'd always go into quivering, impotent rages on the playground); Garofalo's desire to avenge her father. This childlike belief that a sense of justice and goodness will always make the world a better place, is the true appeal of super-hero comics; and underneath its parodic exterior, "Mystery Men" shows us why these hackneyed comic-book tropes matter to so many.
It never really gels into a satisfying whole, due to the huge number of half-baked subplots (romance, family life, conflicts within the team, etc.), but the main plot is such loopy fun that it makes up for that. The fact that it's supposed to be good, nonsensical fun seems to be lost on some of the reviewers here, so I'll issue a caveat: if you're the type of viewer who finds his enjoyment of an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon ruined by the unexplained and illogical ("Am I to believe this is some sort of.. *snort*... _magic_ xylophone?"), then you are far too literal-minded and humorless for this film. Go rent a Sandler film instead.
(7/10)
On the other hand, it's also got some laugh-out-loud funny lines, a talented and earnest cast, and the classic underdog premise. Macy, Stiller, and Azaria are brilliant as the "core" team, and Garofalo and Studi do superb work adding conflict and variety to the team. I can't say Reubens or Mitchell added much to the film overall, though each had a few chances to shine.
The plot, as I said above, is your classic "underdog-makes-good" stuff. No surprises there, since you know they're going to triumph. What makes it worthwhile is not the absurd, gaudy heroes and villains, but the dialogue and interplay between the characters. Underneath it all, these people are children at heart, who just want to do right. The best scenes in the film give this film its emotional grounding. Look at Azaria's relationship with his long-suffering mother; Macy's endearing innocence in his unwillingness to accept Cap. Amazing's secret identity; Stiller's rage (not unlike that one weird, spazzy kid you once knew who'd always go into quivering, impotent rages on the playground); Garofalo's desire to avenge her father. This childlike belief that a sense of justice and goodness will always make the world a better place, is the true appeal of super-hero comics; and underneath its parodic exterior, "Mystery Men" shows us why these hackneyed comic-book tropes matter to so many.
It never really gels into a satisfying whole, due to the huge number of half-baked subplots (romance, family life, conflicts within the team, etc.), but the main plot is such loopy fun that it makes up for that. The fact that it's supposed to be good, nonsensical fun seems to be lost on some of the reviewers here, so I'll issue a caveat: if you're the type of viewer who finds his enjoyment of an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon ruined by the unexplained and illogical ("Am I to believe this is some sort of.. *snort*... _magic_ xylophone?"), then you are far too literal-minded and humorless for this film. Go rent a Sandler film instead.
(7/10)
Helpful•20
Don't listen to the other reviewers when they claim to have been scared; they don't know any better. I, on the other hand, am a film student at Albuquerque Community College, where I studied the works of the Masters (Tarantino, Schumacher, Cameron), so I know whereof I speak.
This was a horrible movie: not nearly as convincing and frightening as, say, "I Know What You Did Last Summer". For instance, take the lead actress. Her breasts are way too small! And she doesn't show them off! How can they expect to sell this film to a mass audience? And the situations are completely outlandish. These people are being stalked by a killer, and they're not cracking wise and having sex with wild abandon, like the eerily-realistic teens in "Scream"?
I recommend that you, the great unwashed masses, not see this film, and instead spend your money on some quality filmmaking like the new Adam Sandler movie.
I have spoken.
This was a horrible movie: not nearly as convincing and frightening as, say, "I Know What You Did Last Summer". For instance, take the lead actress. Her breasts are way too small! And she doesn't show them off! How can they expect to sell this film to a mass audience? And the situations are completely outlandish. These people are being stalked by a killer, and they're not cracking wise and having sex with wild abandon, like the eerily-realistic teens in "Scream"?
I recommend that you, the great unwashed masses, not see this film, and instead spend your money on some quality filmmaking like the new Adam Sandler movie.
I have spoken.
Helpful•12
The first 4 or 5 seasons of The Simpsons were undeniably brilliant, start to finish. Episodes like "Patty Wants a Baby" or "Oh! Streetcar!" are prime examples of the perfect half-hour of comedy: the lines are dead-on perfect, and no opportunities for humor are wasted.
After a few years, though, most of the talented creative team that made the Simpsons what it was left, going on to do The Critic and King of the Hill. What we're left with now is an ever-widening pool of recent Harvard grads who think that because they did an article or two for the Lampoon, they can write a silly little cartoon. They can't.
How much longer are we going to endure the smarmy, subtle-as-a-nuclear-bomb humor? The way sly satire gave way to broad, obvious parody? The endless recycling of old plots ("Let's do a Planet of the Apes musical! Let's send the Simpsons to a foreign country!")? The smug, obnoxious Harvard in-jokes, such as their feeble little jabs against Yale grads? The way Lisa is made little more than a mouthpiece for every ill-thought-out, politically-correct ideal espoused by the writers?
Watch the "Australia", "George Bush", or "Lisa Becomes a Vegetarian" episodes, then compare them to ANYTHING from the first few years, and see if you don't agree.
After a few years, though, most of the talented creative team that made the Simpsons what it was left, going on to do The Critic and King of the Hill. What we're left with now is an ever-widening pool of recent Harvard grads who think that because they did an article or two for the Lampoon, they can write a silly little cartoon. They can't.
How much longer are we going to endure the smarmy, subtle-as-a-nuclear-bomb humor? The way sly satire gave way to broad, obvious parody? The endless recycling of old plots ("Let's do a Planet of the Apes musical! Let's send the Simpsons to a foreign country!")? The smug, obnoxious Harvard in-jokes, such as their feeble little jabs against Yale grads? The way Lisa is made little more than a mouthpiece for every ill-thought-out, politically-correct ideal espoused by the writers?
Watch the "Australia", "George Bush", or "Lisa Becomes a Vegetarian" episodes, then compare them to ANYTHING from the first few years, and see if you don't agree.
Helpful•12