Movie Review - Megamind

By Alex Popp

Will Ferrell voices a wannabe super-villain in "Megamind."



After Megamind kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (voiced by Jonah Hill), who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day for the first time in his life.

One problem with the movie is that all of the funniest scenes and lines were shown in trailers; the ones you see 70 million times and then when you see the movie, you're like "Yeah, yeah, let's get to the stuff we haven't seen, please", but then there's no better humor. But there are still some other laughs. But the thing I liked the most about "Megamind" was the redeeming qualities. We all have learned that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but those words take new and unexpected meaning in this film. Some of the superhero abilities and specifications may seem like they were taken from "The Incredibles," but it still has some excitement leading to satisfaction at the end.

Rated PG for sequences of animated sci-fi action.

"Megamind" may not be mega-ingenius, but it is good enough for two and a half stars (out of 4).

Written by Alex Popp for the Animation Empire blog.

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Emperor's take...

I enjoyed it more than Despicable Me, which seemed to be a sappy display of minions and adoption emotions (although Despicable Me was marketed better to mommies and kids as a result).

Megamind had a fresh story with a slight twist or two in it, and the comedic cast nailed it. Though I agree that most of the funny is in the trailer, it's still enjoyable throughout.

You also actually get to like the villain/hero and feel sorry for him and understand him, so the turn is completed successfully. In contrast, the Despicable Me character doesn't seem to change much at all, other than starting to like kids more and wanting to be nicer.

Interestingly, the scriptwriters originally wrote this wanting to cast Will Ferrell in it as a live-action comedy. It went around forever, and it became more of a portfolio piece to get them more gigs. It was finally picked up by DreamWorks Animation, much to their surprise. Ben Stiller picked it up and talked to DreamWorks. Of course, the writers were then happy to see Will Ferrell cast as the main character (as they intended, but they were thinking live action).

- The Emperor