MOVIE · 1999

Mystery Men

ActionAdventureComedyFamilyFantasySci-Fi121 min

Champion City’s famous defender disappears just as a criminal mastermind moves in, leaving the city in the hands of a band of backup superheroes nobody takes seriously. Their powers are hardly reassuring: one gets angry, one throws forks, one turns invisible only when no one is looking. As the threat grows, these misfits have to work together, rescue the hero everyone usually counts on, and prove they can handle a disaster that is far bigger than any of them. Ben Stiller and William H. Macy are part of the scrambled team as the film keeps pushing the gap between comic-book swagger and what these would-be saviors can actually do.