So runs the premise in the inverted superhero saga Mystery Men. The film begins with the sub-par heroes of the title attempting to interdict a heist at a nursing home and getting their asses kicked terribly in the process -- until, that is, Captain Amazing arrives and makes short work of the perps before being escorted into a waiting limo. With the crime-fighting so meager, Amazing decides to appear, as alter-ego Lance Hunt, at the parole hearing of his arch-nemesis Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush) in order to secure his release and solidify his own lagging market profile.

Would-be superheroes The Shoveler (William H. Macy), Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), and The Blue Raja (Hank Azaria), meanwhile, sit around in a coffee shop and fret about their inability to hit the big time. Maybe they should hire a publicist. Maybe the Blue Raja, "master of silverware," should actually have some blue in his costume, or throw knives, instead of forks, with deadly precision. Little do they know that their shot is coming when Captain Amazing's plan to resume battle with Frankenstein backfires.

It's a clever premise, an offshoot of Dark Horse Comics' Flaming Carrot series, and one that lends itself to a lot of goofing on the superhero genre, particularly when the three up-and-comers hold auditions to expand their ranks and entertain pitches from wannabes like The Waffler (armed only with a waffle iron) and Pencil Head ("erases crime"). Ultimately, the trio teams up with The Spleen (Paul Reubens), whose powers derive from the fact that he once passed gas and blamed it on an old gypsy woman; Invisible Boy (Kel Mitchell), who can only turn invisible if no one is looking; and The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo), who fights crime with the help of a bowling ball inhabited by the spirit (and skull) of her dead father. Under the tutelage of The Sphinx (Wes Studi) -- a mysterious figure who speaks in self-help slogans and splits guns in half with his mind -- and with kooky tech support from Dr. Heller (Tom Waits), inventor of the "blame thrower" and other non-lethal weapons, this motley crew is ready to take a run at saving their lush Tim Burton-esque city from Casanova and assorted allied baddies.

The real mystery behind Mystery Men, however, is how so much big-time talent was recruited for this lightest of light entertainments. Oscar nominee Kinnear is smugly funny as the arrogant hero, and the likewise-honored Macy is lovably sad-sackish as a henpecked husband who won't let go of his dream. You have to go back to Gary Oldman's absurd villian-turn in The Fifth Element, however, to see an appearance as unlikely as that turned in by the Oscar-winning Rush.

Stiller, on the other hand, is true to form as the most self-deluded and insecure of the bunch -- his superpower is getting extremely, if ineffectually, angry -- as he resists the Sphinx's counsel and eventually comes to doubt his own (nonexistent) superpowers. Stiller has compared his character to a guy who starts a band, but is the band's least talented member, an accurate comparison and one that underlines the movie's main point: that superheroism is really just another wing of the entertainment industry. Garofalo's bone-dry sarcasm, meanwhile, serves to supply some much-needed winks to the audience.