Most people say that Megamind is a The Incredibles meets Despicable Me movie. If that’s the case then it is a good one. Lets see if IGN feels the same.
This CG-animated feature focuses on the bad guy rather than the hero. Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell, who replaced Robert Downey Jr.) is a brilliant but luckless alien supervillain who is the longtime archenemy of Metro Man (Brad Pitt), the beloved, seemingly invincible protector of Metro City.
The evil genius Megamind — whose origin is a Superman-esque tale of a baby sent to Earth on a rocket ship, but who lands in a prison yard rather than the morally upright heartland — has spent years trying to destroy Metro Man, whose reporter girlfriend Roxanne Ritchi (voiced by Tina Fey) is often used as bait to lure him into some diabolical but easily thwarted super-trap. It’s all become so predictable … until the day Megamind actually succeeds in destroying the hero.
The arch-criminal suddenly finds himself king of Metro City, but later discovers that his life now lacks purpose without his do-gooder counterpart to lock horns with. It seems achieving his life’s ambition was the worst thing he could have done. Then it hits him: He’ll simply make a new opponent — the everyman-turned-superhero Titan (Jonah Hill) — to challenge him. However, this plan fails when Titan takes a liking to being a villain. That forces Megamind to ponder the unthinkable: Can he become the superhero that Metro City really needs?
This film may be coming out on the heels of Despicable Me, another CG-animated film about a supervillain who just might not be so bad after all, but Megamind is a sharper, funnier and all-around better take on the idea. If anything this movie may be hurt somewhat by some of its superficial similarities to Pixar’s Incredibles, but it’s ultimately puts a fresh enough spin on superhero spoofs that one can overlook them.
Megamind boasts some very clever, witty banter between Megamind and Metro Man as they try to one-up each other with good vs. evil cliches. Megamind has a penchant for putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable and other verbal gaffes, such as pronouncing Metro City “Metrocity” (rhymes with atrocity) or revenge as “revahhnnge.” Ferrell is ideal in the role, imbuing the character with his signature arrogant nitwit schtick.
Pitt doesn’t have a huge role here, so he’s not exactly memorable in it; it’s more the idea of this seemingly perfect, all-American hero being pitted (no pun intended) against the likes of Ferrell that makes the star voice casting stunt work. Fey is fine as Roxanne, but never really gets any truly memorable lines or moments here. David Cross fares better as Megamind’s lifelong cohort, Minion, while Jonah Hill nicely plays Titan as more of a wounded kid who is lashing out rather than as simply evil.
The 3D is well done, and the animation and sound design are both top-notch. This is a great-looking (and sounding) toon, one definitely worth seeing in 3D, but it’s ultimately the story, characters and humor that makes Megamind such a pleasant surprise. It may not be as effective as The Incredibles, but it’s a fun comic book parody that offers its own clever, satirical take on the genre.
So what do you think guys?
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