Ben
Stiller is "Mr Furious", a wannabe superhero in the fictional
Champion City, who along with his fellow heroes, "The Shoveller"
(William H Macy) and "The Blue Rajah" (Hank Azaria) attempts
to grab some of the glory from the city's true defender, Captain Amazing.
When Capt Amazing (Greg Kinnear) goes missing, the three heroes
decide to form a superhero gang to take on his abductor, arch-criminal
Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) and prove that they are not just
risible wannabes. I have to say this film is
clever and colourful, and reasonably good to look at. This doesn't
however hide the general lack of genuinely funny material. The
odd chuckle at the cleverness of it, and the irony factor doesn't really
make up for what is obviously a big budget effort lacking real laughs.
Stiller is good as Mr Furious, but the likes of Macy and Rush look very
out of place as The Shoveller and Casanova Frankenstein respectively.
Tom Waits turns in a briefly manic show as the mad inventor, and the
other cast members are competent enough, but I felt that the film lacked
a big comic presence to stand out, and for the others to work off.
The promising story, big sets and colourful costumes do nothing to make
up for the lack of belly laughs, and overall this was quite a disappointment.DJY
STORYLINE:
70% ACTING: 54% SPECIAL EFFECTS: 56% CINEMATOGRAPHY: 63%
Overall:
55%
BEST
QUOTE:
The Sphinx: We are number one! All others are number two, or lower.
Main
Cast List Hank Azaria .... The
Blue Raja (Jeff) Janeane Garofalo .... The
Bowler (Caroline) William H. Macy .... The
Shoveler (Ed) Kel Mitchell .... The Invisible
Boy Paul Reubens .... The Spleen Ben Stiller .... Mr. Furious
(Roy) Wes Studi .... The Sphinx Greg Kinnear .... Captain
Amazing/Lance Hunt Geoffrey Rush .... Casanova
Frankenstein Lena Olin .... Dr. Annabel
Leek Eddie Izzard .... Tony P. Artie Lange .... Big Red Pras .... Tony C. Claire Forlani .... Monica
the Waitress Tom Waits .... Dr. A. Heller,
Weapons Designer
