I watched this for the first time last night, and liked some of the touches (Captain Amazing puts on glasses nobody recognises him, and the gimmicky gangs). But I began to think maybe it was done too soon. If it had been done now, with the wealth of superhero films to riff on and spoof, could it have been better? (Whether you like it or not).
You know what I really hate though? People who write sigs that look like the message carries on :)
Pish posh. I think it came at exactly the right time. I just watched it recently and I think it holds up very well in comparison to the other superhero movies. No, it doesn't have the slick production of The Avengers or a big budget Marvel movie, or even a substandard DC movie.
But compare it to the other alt comic films that have come out: Super, Kick Ass, Defendor, even movies like Paperboy and more that take their cues from alternative comics. Yes, Mystery Men holds up very well. I thought it was great the first time I sat down in a theater to see it 15 years ago and I think it's great today.
Maybe if done today it could have had better CGI, but even what limited CGI is in the movie looks good. I've seen worse in bigger budget movies since then. So, no, I don't think waiting would make it better. Maybe it could look a bit better, but they used more practical effects/models, which is, to me, better than a bunch of actors standing around green screens.
No, in fact, it could have been worse. Because of the success of big Marvel and DC movies and even the bigger budget alt indie comic films (Hellboy, for one example, coming from the same comic book company, set a higher standard for Dark Horse movies) then movie producers hired to deliberately screw with the movie itself might have tried to change too much and made it worse. It could have been Elektra bad. Instead we got Defendor great.
And the cast works together really well, and there is not much of a chance at finding another group of actors who work together so well. I am not saying it couldn't be done, but great casts just don't come together every movie. Sometimes the lightning just strikes in the right place at the right time.
This is a movie that is at the top of my alt comic book movie list, and it deserves a second look by the haters.
This movie was a little bit before it's time. This was released during the superhero movie drought in the 90s cumulated by the disastrous Batman & Robin and year or 2 before SpiderMan and X-Men, which unofficially started the superhero craze that still exists today. This also was about a decade before similar real life superhero movies such as Hancock, Kick-Ass, and Super, all 3 did well at the box office (or VOD in the case of Super), unlike Mystery Men.
In other words, this movie would've probably been a hit if it was made post-1999. Stiler's increase in popularity would've helped as well seeing as how he became a star directly after this film. For example, The Mask with Jim Carrey was a hit because Carrey was white hot at that time.
100% ahead of its time. If it came out now, with the same cast, it'd make hundreds of millions of dollars. Still in my top ten superhero movies of all time, easy.
shareDefinitely agree it was ahead of it's time, and I think that's the reason it doesn't quite work. It was tricky to do a parody of superhero movies because there weren't many superhero movies to parody. As you said.
Circa 1999 there was pretty much only the Batman franchise that had made any real impact in the past decade.
I definitely think it could have been better. Mystery Men just doesn't quite 'work' for me, although I must admit I'm at a loss to really explain why.
Never defend crap with 'It's just a movie'
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If it was made today it would today it would be a much tougher film like Kick-Ass in the way it shows violence. Mystery Men in 1999 went for a Loony Tunes inspired direction while today it would have blood splatter everywhere.
shareYou have to be in the mood for this type of film, and you have to watch it with your friends.
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