Upside Mystery

Upside Mystery is a 2007 computer-animated fantasy detective film produced by Spyglass Entertainment and Starz Animation. The film was directed by Vicky Jenson from a script by Michael J. Wilson and stars John Travolta, Christian Slater, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jennifer Saunders. It follows two detectives, Hans Truman and Jason Truder, on a mission to thwart Becky Brutal's plan from affecting Los Vegas with the help of a secret spy agent Stella Lee.

The film was released in the United States on August 17, 2007, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. However, the film was a box office success, grossing $382 million worldwide against a budget of $55 million. It was followed by two sequels, Upside Mystery 2 in 2010 and Upside Mystery 3 in 2015.

Plot
Becky Brutal (Jennifer Saunders) has been hired with plans to affect the metropolis named Los Vegas by some fantastical scale. Hans Truman (John Travolta) was assigned as a detective of Los Vegas on his mission with his best friend Jason Truder (Christian Slater). As Truman and Truder reached the building, some of the servants hold Truder's hostage. After Truman successfully defeating the servants, Brutal suddenly attacks Truman and Truder, then tells them that Los Vegas will be terminated before escaping.

As a result of failing the mission to capture Brutal, the chairman of Los Vegas (Emma Thompson) orders Truman and Truder to be sent to Los Vegas Detective School. Both were met by mentor William Schubert (Jack Nicholson), who trains the detectives for their heroism. Truder tells Schubert that he and Truman are failures of being detectives. Schubert agrees to led both of them undergo training in order become better detectives.

While being trained, Truman and Truder were given challenges to find a person that is missing. Truman uses his radar to give directions. They found out that one of the Los Vegas workers was drowning in the fountain, which causes Truman to save him. Meanwhile, Becky orders her guards to capture both Truman and Truder while preparing her shockwave. Both were chased around Los Vegas by Becky's guards, but were saved by Stella Lee (Michelle Rodriguez), a secret spy agent of Los Vegas. All 3 went back to Detective School for their training success, leading Schubert to award Truman and Truder a medal of detective. Schubert tells both of the, that the mastermind is trying to defect Los Vegas with shockwave.

Stella Lee goes on her own mission for her spy service, but Truman convinces her about what was Brutal trying to do, which she agrees to work with Truman and Truder. As all three work together, Brutal's completed shockwave causes the power outage of Los Vegas with no electricity around. Brutal's guards capture Truman, Truder and Lee after the fantastical scale affected the entire metropolis and were taken to Brutal's lair.

While they were taken to her lair, Truman wants to know Brutal what she has done. She later reveals herself to be a true mastermind behind Los Vegas to affect it with her fantastical scale, as she states that "no visitors will have fun in metropolis", then she challenges Truman, Truder and Lee to the fight. Truman, Truder and Lee later overpower Brutal, report the recorded concession to LVDD, before they arrived to arrest Brutal over her treachery.

After Brutal gets arrested, Los Vegas have became the tourist metropolis with Truman, Truder and Lee being honored by the chairman of Los Vegas.

Cast

 * John Travolta as Hans Truman, a shy but brave detective who was shocked by the fantastical scale.
 * Christian Slater as Jason Truder, Hans Truman's best friend.
 * Michelle Rodriguez as Stella Lee, a secret spy agent who was Hans Truman's love interest.
 * Jennifer Saunders as Becky Brutal, a mastermind who affects Los Vegas with some strange fantastical scale.
 * Jack Nicholson as William Schubert, Hans and Jason's mentor.
 * Emma Thompson as the chairman of Los Vegas.

Additional voices

 * Tom Kenny
 * Billy West
 * Tara Strong

Development
In October 2003, while co-writing Shark Tale for DreamWorks Animation, Michael J. Wilson developed and pitched an idea where a detective found out that the city has been affected by some fantastical scale.

On November 12, 2004, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that it had picked up the rights to a computer-animated movie titled Upside Mystery with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum producing through Spyglass Entertainment. By 2005, Barber announced that Shrek and Shark Tale director Vicky Jenson had been hired to direct the film while also receiving a scheduled summer 2007 release date.

Casting
In September 2005, it was announced that Broken Arrow stars John Travolta and Christian Slater have joined the cast alongside Michelle Rodriguez and Jennifer Saunders with the latter voicing the villain. On June 11, 2006, Jack Nicholson and Emma Thompson have joined the voice cast.

Animation
Starz Animation (originally known as IDT Entertainment) was announced to be animating the film on February 8, 2006.

Music
Hans Zimmer, who previously scored Vicky Jenson's co-directed Shark Tale, was originally hired to score the film in June 2006, but was replaced by Marco Beltrami after Zimmer was set to score The Simpsons Movie instead.

Marketing
MGM released a teaser trailer and poster on June 8, 2006. On December 21, 2006, another teaser poster was released, followed by the film's first full trailer in the following day.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC on August 7, 2007.

Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 27, 2007, by MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Box office
Upside Mystery opened number 1 at its opening weekend, grossing $49.3 million at the box office from 3,683 theaters.

Upside Mystery grossed $132.1 million in North America and $250.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $382.3 million.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on 143 reviews, with an average rating of 5.78/10. The site's critical consensus reads, Upside Mystery delivers thrilling moments for a detective movie, but somehow the story gets convoluted." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequel
A sequel titled Upside Mystery 2 was released on August 27, 2010 with production beginning in 2008. It was directed by Open Season director Jill Culton, written by David Koepp, and produced by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum. Travolta, Slater, and Rodriguez reprised their roles alongside newcomers Pierce Brosnan, Tobey Maguire and Demi Moore. Vicky Jenson returns as executive producer only as she was scheduled to direct her live-action directorial feature Post Grad.

The third installment titled Upside Mystery 3 was released on September 4, 2015. It was directed by The Prince of Egypt and Brave co-director Brenda Chapman, written by Josh Klausner, and produced by Roger Birnbaum and Vicky Jenson. Travolta, Slater, and Rodriguez also reprise their roles alongside newcomers Christina Ricci, Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt.