Mystery Team is the first feature fim from the internet comedy group Derrick Comedy (the dudes that brought you bro rape). It's a hit and miss affair that works far more often than it doesn't, offering up consistent laughs for an hour and a half.
The Mystery Team consist of three 18 year old "detectives." Jason, the "master of disguise" (Donald Glover, Community) Duncan, the "boy genius" (D.C. Pierson) and Charlie, the "strongest kid in the town" (Dominic Dierkes). They have been solving low level "crimes" (i.e. who put their finger in an elderly woman's pie) since they were 7 years old. When a murder occurs in their neighborhood they attempt to solve the crime and prove to everyone that they are real detectives.
I'm a fan of Community and NBC's Thursday night comedy in general (there are numerous familiar faces that pop up throughout the movie) but have only seen a few Derrick Comedy sketches. I was interested to see if they could pull off a full length movie. There is a very strong focus on gross out gags with plenty of dumb (but undeniably funny) comedy on display. Not everything works and the pace of the movie drags when they focus on the plot instead of jokes but for the most part the movie is a success. Glover is the most familiar face and he gives the most memorable performance but the whole cast does show some excellent comedic skills throughout. There's not a whole lot of overly memorable stuff and the move is rarely laugh out loud funny but it is consistently humorous and very clever in spots. This is not highbrow comedy by any means but there is enough imagination involved to keep it from being the lowest common denominator too.
Mystery Team is worth checking out for some easy laughs and shows the promise the Derrick Comedy group has overall. It's a worthwhile film debut that should be viewed with limited expectations but could easily establish a large cult following in the future.
Rating: 3/5
Glover rocks this flick!
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