I’m back once again with another superhero podcast review. I’m still digging into the various Movies by Minutes community and while I’m not specifically going directly after all of the various ones that cover superhero movies and franchises, I went to this one for a couple reasons. One was that the host’s other project was Groundhog Minute which I binged through in preparation of the first season of It’s Time to Rewind, and the other was that it was focused on a single movie rather than an entire franchise. There are still a few others that I will likely eventually cover here. And if you’re new to this podcast review series I go through the basics of the podcast from a superhero movie perspective and I offer my final rating where I either subscribe, unsubscribe, or listen to selected episodes. And if you do a podcast or know of a podcast that might be good for a review here, be sure to let me know in the comments.

The Basics

Website: http://5minutesofmystery.com
Episode count (as of 7-14-21): 22 plus various bonus episodes
Episodes listened to: 22
Episodes recommended to me by the podcast: Minutes 40-45 with guest Sean German, Minutes 45-50 with guest Crystal Beth
Release schedule: Whenever the Hell Dave feels like releasing an episode
Episode Length: 1:00-2:00
Audio Quality: Good with occasional glitches
Language rating: PG-13 to R
Spoilers: Yes
Production format: A single conversation between host Dave Pallas and various guests discussing five minutes of the 1999 movie Mystery Men including a segment where they share what their Champion City hero or villain power would be.

The Format

Dave is someone who clearly loves Mystery Men and typically has several guests who have a lot of fun discussing the movie whether or not they are fully on board with the film itself. It’s a film that I’m rather lukewarm on, but I enjoy parts of it and am happy to convince other people to give it a shot. The conversation is generally equally split on actual discussions about the movie and various tangents going deep into segments from All That/Keenan and Kel or how practically every male guest had a crush on 90’s era Janeane Garofalo (no judgements, so did I). Binging on the episodes there are some noticeable repetitions like how Dave frequently references a deleted scene involving the Blue Rajah making a joke about buying dishes before silverware but it’s forgivable as the episodes were likely recorded months apart. It’s often more of a party atmosphere especially in the later episodes as the guest list grows to 4-5 people in each episode but that keeps it light and entertaining while still getting interesting nuggets of actual information about details and behind the scenes facts about the actual film they’re discussing.

Comics vs Movies

Since this is specifically about a single movie, it’s very focused on what’s shown on screen. There are several references to the comic the film was loosely based on, the Flaming Carrot, but as of the current episode Dave hasn’t read any of those comics. He has had a couple guests who were familiar with the comic but overall the conversation sticks to the movie itself.

The Verdict

I had a lot of fun binging through the episodes and am looking forward to seeing the project actually get finished as it’s been 5 years in the making and there’s only 2 full five minute segments of the film left to cover and likely a wrap up episode also covering the last minute of credits. I didn’t listen to any of the various Discussions with Dave or Cage Match episodes though I did enjoy the Ritchie Rich episode of Reel Comic Heroes which was the last podcast I covered in this series. Even though I listened to all the main episodes, so I don’t miss when the next one comes out I’m…

5 Minutes of Mystery: Subscribed