Mystery Men 4K 1999

The king of the underworld, Frankenstein Casanova, and the psychiatrist Anabelle Leek, who is under his diabolical spell, are plotting sinister plans. To do so, they kidnap Captain Awesome, who has supernatural powers.

To protect their city Champion City from the machinations of evil forces, its best representatives unite into a cohesive team consisting of the Earthmaker, whose main weapon is a shovel, Mr. Fury, who is terrible in anger, and Blue Raji, who excels at using forks and spoons as a fighting weapon.

4k movies reviews
Mystery Men is a unique genre: a parody of a movie that doesn't exist. In the late '90s the only superhero-movies were 'Batman' and 'Superman', so it was difficult for a mass audience to understand the jokes about the invisible man who only becomes invisible if no one looks at him (not even him). Had it come out ten years later, perhaps it would not have been a resounding box-office failure and a terrifyingly rapid oblivion, which 'Mystery Men' clearly does not deserve. What they can't deny is the originality of their approach: for example, Eddie Izzard played a disco villain, and one of the main characters was a girl whose weapon is a bowling ball combat that holds the skull of her father, the deceased superhero Bowler. The garishness inherent in Joel Schumacher-era Batman isn't in the least bit annoying here, but instead is an important part of a rather original universe where the local Superman is covered in advertising logos and the wise mentor is confused by his own philosophical nonsense.

Director Usher's film is certainly ahead of its time, but it lacks the layering of 'Watchmen' and the bullying of 'Kick-Ass' to become iconic, and some jokes like the fart superhero want to be quickly forgotten. The two-hour running time does not do 'Mysterious People' any good: the funny gags sooner or later come to an end, and the tawdry sentimentality, the predictable narrative and the poor acting of some of the supporting and third-rate actors come to the surface (the same invisible negro or the bowler girl would want to wring her neck at certain moments). But the flaws of the surrounding cast are made up for by the charming lead trio of superhuman misfits played by Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, and William H. Macy, probably the last actors in this world to be featured in a superhero movie.

Despite all the obvious downsides, 'Mysterious Men' is the best parody of guys with superpowers in stupid shiny suits to come out of the days when superhero movies themselves were just flashy experimental clownery rather than a coherent money-making conveyor belt. It was a good time.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (88.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH.