Episode 65: Mystery Men (aka "Superteam like it's 1999")

As of this writing, The Avengers: Infinity War is on pace to shatter a $2-billion global box office.The superheroes have arrived, and it doesn't matter if you like it or not, they're here to stay. After all, they're stronger than us, and can make demands of our Earthly dollars.However, there was another time. A time when the most definitive superhero franchise involved neon lights, rubber nipples, butts, and Schwarzenegger dealing out bad ice-themed puns. (I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Themes.)(Sorry.)After Schumacher put his stank on Batman, but before Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart would put their stank on X-Men, there was a weird little superhero comic book adaptation experiment. This movie would dare to play on the tropes of comic book superheroes, in a time when those tropes had not been solidly cast in stone, on the silver screen.The experiment was a financial failure.Mystery Men is a superhero comedy about a rag-tag group of "other" guys, who decide to "avenge" a grievous wrong done to the city's main superhero. Starring the likes of William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Hank Azaria, Geoffery Rush, Greg Kinnear, Tom Waits, Ricky Jay, Kel Mitchell, Artie Lange, Eddie Izzard, Claire Forlani, Michael Bay, and (yes) Ben Stiller.Trevor says that Mystery Men is an effective movie, that not only holds up, but was wildly ahead of its time.Matt watched it one time in the 90s, and was mostly underwhelmed.Will a new watch-through change minds? Will this episode change yours?Pull up a booth, pour a cup of coffee, and join us in the Nighthawks Diner.