rated pg-13 universal pictures starring hank azaria , janeane garofalo , william h . macy , kel mitchell , paul reubens , ben stiller , wes studi , greg kinnear , lena olin , geoffrey rush , tom waits , eddie izzard , claire forlani based on the comic book by bob burden written by neil cuthbert directed by kinka usher it could have been a summer hit ; perhaps the beginning of a much-needed franchise for universal pictures . the superheroes-without-superpowers storyline seemed to appeal to all of us underachieving americans . so where did " mystery men " go wrong ? in my opinion , at almost every turn . " mystery men " is the story of 7 self-made-heroes out to fight supervillain cassanova frankenstein ( geoffrey rush ) in order to get back their real superhero , captain amazing ( greg kinnear ) . the film is supposed to be a mockery of comic-book action franchises , but the jokes just aren't funny at all . the only real high-notes in an " all-star " cast ( which includes paul reubens a . k . a pee wee herman ) are ben stiller and janeane garofalo , who each have the talent to make any line into a sardonic , cynical catchphrase . while the film's basic idea sounds like fun , " mystery men " is actually somewhat of a bore thanks to neil cuthbert's one-note script and kinka usher's wannabe-hip-and-stylish direction . even as a comedy sketch , there wouldn't be much to " mystery men " , so why torture us with a feature film ? " mystery men " also disappointed at the box office , so thankfully , no sequel is being planned . a capsule review by akiva gottlieb , the teenage movie critic <a href= " mailto : akiva@excite . com " >akiva@excite . com</a> teenagemoviecritic . 8m . com <hr>get free voicemail , fax and email at <a href= " http : //voicemail . excite . com " >http : //voicemail . excite . com</a> talk online at <a href= " http : //voicechat . excite . com " >http : //voicechat . excite . com</a> 
