Summaries

Synopsis

In the fictional metropolis of Champion City, three men Roy/Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller) (an amateur superhero whose power is his rage which enhances his strength and agility), Eddie/The Shoveler (William H. Macy) (a quarry worker turned amateur superhero with superhuman agility and cunning who wields a shovel as a weapon), and Jeffery/The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria) (an amateur superhero with sniper-vision and an innate ability to throw virtually any object as a projectile with superhuman-accuracy) attempt to make a name for themselves as superheroes.

But their inexperience, infighting, and dubious abilities generally result in defeat and frustration. The Blue Raja is not very accurate with his throws of dining room cutlery, and Mr. Furious never really gets the rage.Every time they are close to being defeated; they find themselves upstaged by the well-sponsored Lance Hunt/Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear).

However, Amazing is finding that his skill at capturing villains has left the city with virtually no crime, and his publicist Vic (Ricky Jay) tells him that corporate sponsors are threatening to terminate his funding. In order to create a need for a superhero, Amazing uses his alter ego, the billionaire lawyer Lance Hunt, to argue for the release of the insane super-villain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). Dr. Anabel Leek (Lena Olin) is Casanova's prison psychiatrist and also advocates for his release. Leek loves Frankenstein secretly.Lucille (Jenifer Lewis) is Eddie's long-suffering wife. Eddie has been trying to make his name as a superhero for 12 years. Lucille tells Eddie to focus on his family. Violet (Louise Lasser) is Jeffery's mother with whom he stays. Roy works at a junkyard.

The plan backfires: once reunited with Tony P (Eddie Izzard) and his Disco Boys, Frankenstein blows up the insane asylum, captures Amazing, and sets his sights on creating a doomsday device, the "Psycho-Frakulator", which can bend reality.Mr. Furious, while spying on Frankenstein's mansion, discovers Amazing's abduction, and tells the others.

The trio attack Frankenstein's mansion but are easily outnumbered by the Disco Boys.The three realize they need more allies, and through word-of-mouth and try-outs, they bring aboard The Spleen (Paul Reubens) (superhero whose flatulence makes others faint), Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell) (amateur superhero who can only become invisible if nobody is looking), and The Carol / Bowler (Janeane Garofalo) (amateur superhero with psychic powers and whose crystal bowling ball contains the skull of her dead father, Carmine the Bowler, who died fighting the Disco Boys).Aspirants included Waffle man, Ballerina man, 2 Wonder Woman, the Bullfighter, Radio man, Squeegee man, PMS Avenger who works 4 days a month, and so on.

The newly formed team "assaults" Casanova, which only succeeds in annoying him and damaging his car. While celebrating their victory, Tony P and his Disco Boys nearly kill the group, but they are saved by the Sphinx (Wes Studi) (a mysterious superhero who can use his mind to cut weapons in half).The Sphinx begins to train them, annoying Mr. Furious with his methods - he has them complete rote team-building exercises (Group hugging, sewing new costumes) and speaks exclusively in platitudes ("I Believe in my Powers", "Until you master your rage, your rage will become your master"). Furious leaves the group.Sphinx says that loss of a team member can be compensated by addition of firepower, but The Blue Raja refuses to use guns. So, they recruit mad scientist Dr. Heller (Tom Waits) who specializes in non-lethal weaponry. Heller convinces the team as his weapons like the canned tornado, blame thrower, clothes shrinking gadget are super effective.Furious, encouraged by his new girlfriend, Monica (Claire Forlani), rejoins the team.

Attempting to save Captain Amazing, the group breaks into Casanova's mansion during a gathering of the city's various gangs. In their attempts to free him, however the gang activates the Psycho-Frakulator, and Amazing becomes the first victim of the machine.Without Amazing, the team despairs that there is no way they can save the city, but the Shoveler delivers a classic pep-talk that succeeds in changing the group's spirit. They assault the mansion again, subduing most of the henchmen with their weapons and using their negligible powers to surprisingly good effect.

Unfortunately, as the heroes approach Frankenstein, he reveals that he has kidnapped Mr. Furious' girlfriend Monica, then proceeds to activate the Psycho-Frakulator and wreak havoc upon the city. While the team tries to stop the device, Mr. Furious takes on Frankenstein. After being taunted by and taking a beating from Frankenstein, Mr. Furious unleashes his inner rage and actually manages to fight effectively.He defeats Frankenstein, who is thrown into the core of the Psycho-Frakulator and killed by its reality-bending powers. The rest of the team helps the Bowler use her bowling ball to destroy the Psycho-Frakulator. They escape the mansion as the device implodes.

As the film closes, the team is interviewed by reporters, begging to know what their team's name is. As they argue among themselves, one reporter states "Well, whoever they are, Champion City owes a great debt of gratitude to these 'Mystery Men'," but the others are too busy arguing to hear it.