Megamind should provide a fun time for the kids (younger and older alike) and even give parents moments of entertainment and good laughs. It’s a fun, if unremarkable, movie that provides just enough to be diverting and result in a good time for all ages. While providing some good laughs at the hands of Will Ferrell’s wisecracks, Megamind doesn’t manage to be as funny as it could have been. It does entertain, though, making it a good movie to pass the time. However, it won’t be a movie that you’ll be revisiting for repeat viewings.
Megamind is the story of an alien who is sent to Earth when his home planet is destroyed. Unfortunately for him, though, another baby from another planet beats him to the punch and ends up getting the better of the deal by knocking Megamind out of the way and landing with the rich family. Megamind, instead, gets stuck growing up in a prison, raised by criminals. This very first crossing of paths, results in a feud breaking out between the two. The fortunate baby grows up to be hero to the city and adopting the name Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt). The prison baby grows up to become a villain after years of scorn and rejection, naming himself Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell). These two spend their days combating each other, with Megamind always trying to get the upper-hand on Metro Man (to no avail). Oftentimes, Metro Man’s crush, reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), finds herself caught in the middle. And so the cycle continues over and over again.
The only real non-cliche aspect of this story comes pretty early in the movie when, out of sheer luck (or so it seems), Megamind finally succeeds and destroys his nemesis Metro Man. This results in evil reigning over Metro City until it becomes a dull and boring cycle for Megamind. Enter Titan (Jonah Hill). A new superhero created to provide battles for Megamind. But all doesn’t turn out as planned, and the line between good and evil is blurred and turned upside-down as the movie attempts to provide some mental stimulation and thought-provoking depth to the eye-candy of the animation and action sequences.
Beyond that, though, the story is fairly cut and dry and quickly becomes predictable. With such an all-star cast, Megamind holds promise, but never really realizes it. Never really feeling like anything more than a fun but generic movie that provides some amusing one-liners and pretty pictures. This results in a cliche movie that provides some decent family entertainment that does well to pass the time for an hour and a half, but will just as quickly pass from memory.
Don’t get me wrong, Megamind provides some decent entertainment (albeit mindless) and is a moderately amusing movie. However, what appears to be Dreamworks’ answer to Pixar’s The Incredibles falls short in that effort with Pixar again showing it’s superiority. And Dreamworks again showing why they are, in fact, an undeniable number two.
Those looking for another How to Train Your Dragon or a movie on the level of Pixar will probably be a bit disappointed, as Megamind is simply a very slightly above-average animated movie at best. However, those that are looking for a decent family time or just a way to pass time and enjoy yourself with a “cute” movie, then Megamind does the job well enough. It definitely won’t be competing for any “Animated Movie of the Year” awards, but it will make for a decent hour and a half of entertainment.
