From a fractured planet comes forth a little pod containing a baby, Megamind (Will Ferrell), and his pet minion, Minion (David Cross). From a nearby planet comes the pod containing Megamind’s future sworn enemy, Metro Man (Brad Pitt). From the first day of school, the two were natural rivals. Metro Man was the handsome one with all the powers, Megamind the blue freak from the nearby prison. Every hero needs a villain. Megamind decides to be that villain. That’s the central question behind Megamind, and the general catalyst for the entire film, which contains a variety of messages ranging from be careful what you wish for, you just might get it, to don’t judge a book by its cover and everything in between. That’s one of the problems of Megamind: it’s a fun enough picture, but there’s no scope to it. In a way, it’s not really fair to compare a DreamWorks Animation production with a Pixar, because they are not working in the same strata of film here. Pixar is producing some of the best works of film ever, while DreamWorks is merely putting out middling features, in my opinion (How To Train Your Dragon being the obvious exception). It’s like Pixar’s incredible feats have spoiled me, since, whenever I go into an animated picture now, I tend to hold it up to Pixar standards. At some points, things move just a little too fast for the mind to process properly. However, the pacing seems to run a little bit slow for long stretches, then too fast at other moments. The movie moves at a leisurely pace, then abruptly charges forward in gallops before slowing down again. One of the weirdest things about Megamind is that, in a standard animated feature with humans (or humanoids), the character on the screen generally resembles the actor who does the voice. In Megamind, the only person with his off-screen looks connected to his on-screen character is Jonah Hill’s Tighten/Hal. Aside from the red hair of Tighten, they’re basically the same guy. All the others in Megamind don’t resemble their real-life counterparts. Yes, I know Megamind is blue, but facially, he looks more like Neil Patrick Harris than Will Ferrell. Tina Fey and Roxie also look nothing alike. Ditto Brad Pitt and Metro Man. It’s a bit disconcerting. Another huge plus to the film is the use of music, both original music by Hans Zimmer and specific use of various classic 70s and 80s rock songs for Megamind’s various smoke-and-laser-filled dramatic entrances. Yes, they’re clichéd songs (Guns and Roses, Michael Jackson, AC/DC), but that’s where a lot of Megamind‘s funniest moments come from. The script from writers Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons definitely has its moments of hilarity, but when the jokes fail, they land with a serious clank. The movie both embraces and sends up all those superhero tropes that the audience is so familiar with, and it starts doing this from the very beginning. Rather than give Megamind a traumatic event to make him evil, it’s just because he wasn’t popular in school (and was raised by prisoners). Rather than have Metro Man take on a mild-mannered persona, he shows off in school by flying around, lifting the school, and such. Even Megamind’s closest minion, an alien fish in a bowl, is a subversion of the standard big dumb head goon that most evil geniuses rely on. Megamind is a fun, witty picture, but it’s nothing special. Pixar has already taken on the superhero business, and is incredibly hard to top. The fact that Megamind is a bit too hyperactive at some points and a bit too lethargic at others doesn’t help it. More jokes hit than miss, but there are long stretches of the movie where it just feels flat. It’s a good attempt at finding a new slant on the superhero tale, but it’s been done better before. US correspondent Ron Hogan has always wanted to be a super villain. Superheroes are boring! Find more by Ron at his blog, Subtle Bluntness, and daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.
title: “Megamind Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-07-25” author: “Michael Ginder”
Will Ferrell lends his voice to Megamind, the blue-skinned protagonist of the title. A bulbous-headed alien who has villainy thrust upon him, Megamind is marginalised at school by his peers and, worst of all, his arch-nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), a boy who can do no wrong in the eyes of his friends and teachers. As a result, Megamind dedicates his adult life to causing chaos in Metro City, constantly kidnapping television reporter Roxanne (Tina Fey), only to have his wicked plans foiled by his square-jawed rival, Metro Man. Telling a story from the perspective of an anti-hero may have already been attempted once this year in Despicable Me, but Megamind is, nevertheless, quite different – filled with references to comic books and movies, it’s a keenly realised deconstruction of the black-and-white world of superhero stories – Superman is the most obvious reference point. Then, one day, Megamind unexpectedly beats his long-time opponent, and gains control of Mega City. “Imagine the most terrible thing you can think of, and multiply it… Times six!” Megamind tells a terrified, yet faintly bemused populace. Left without a hero to fight, Megamind quickly grows tired of heaping his lair with money and treasure, and begins to look around for other things to do, first striking up a relationship with Roxanne while disguised as an unassuming white-collar worker, and later attempting to create a new superhero to fight, with disastrous results. While Megamind’s plot is cleverly constructed enough – albeit in a light, family-friendly kind of way – the movie’s strongest aspect is its humour and welter of loving geek references. There are several scenes that gently pastiche Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman movie, including a slapstick recreation of that film’s romantic flight scene, and a priceless Marlon Brando impression from Will Ferrell. Eagle-eyed viewers will perhaps also note, with a titter of recognition, a fleeting reference to the conclusion of the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. Megamind’s starry voice cast is uniformly excellent, with Jonah Hill providing the voice of Hal, a dorky camera technician who becomes a power-crazed monster, and Brad Pitt as the muscle-bound hero with a secret passion for music. Tina Fey gets less of a look-in as Roxanne, however, and to have such a great comic actor wasted on a fairly straight role is something of a waste. Megamind’s use of 3D, in a year filled with unimaginative uses of the processes, is also worthy of note, and its subtle appearance early on make the film’s late action sequences appear all the more spectacular. A city-levelling fight scene towards the conclusion is particularly well handled, and looks uncannily like an Akira for the under-twelve market. Ultimately, Megamind is an unchallenging, gentle action comedy, delivered with charm and knowing wit. There are numerous moments that appear to have been inspired by other CG family movies – Pixar’s The Incredibles is the most obvious touchstone – but McGrath’s film has enough humour and style to carry Megamind through its more derivative moments. Plus, Ferrell’s Marlon Brando impression is, by itself, worth the price of a ticket… Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here.
