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(More customer reviews)Megamind is something of a mix, but a good one. On the one hand, it takes the existing traditional tropes of comic-book superhero and supervillain and works within them, but at the same time it ventures into territory that one rarely sees, going one step beyond the traditional to answer two questions: (1) What really makes a supervillain truly 'bad'? and (2) What happens when the supervillain unexpectedly wins?
The film starts off with a traditional hook - Megamind apparently falling to his doom - and then flashes back to the beginning, with the origins of the two classic protagonists, superhero Metro Man and supervillain Megamind, each sent out as an infant in a spacepod from their respective doomed homeworlds. From there, however, things begin to take a twist. Megamind is the supervillain, but more from bad luck than anything else (Metro Man's pod lands in a mansion where he is adopted by rich parents who give him everything, Megamind's pod on the other hand lands in a penitentiary where he is adopted by the inmates). Megamind doesn't become a supervillain so much out of evil as much as lack of options, his main talent apparently being wreaking havoc and scaring the hell out of people. He and Metro Man become enemies/rivals in a series of confrontations where, in Megminds own words "Our battles quickly got more elaborate. He would win some, I would ALMOST win others!".
And, in classic comic-book tradition, a plucky news reporter, Roxanne Ritchie, and her hapless and socially inept camerman, Hal Stewart, are always on the scene when one of Megamind's schemes unfolds, with the result that Roxanne gets abducted so many times that it becomes almost routine ("Alligators, yeah, mm-hmm. I was thinking about it on the way over...").
But things take an unexpected twist when, in spite of all the glitches, Megamind's scheme actually works and Metro Man is apparently destroyed, leaving only a skeleton bearing his cape behind. At first Megamind is ecstatic, but after only a few days the supervillian finds himself at a loss as to what to do next. What _does_ a supervillain do when he has no superhero to challenge or to be challenged by?
In his existiential angst, Megamind unexpectedly ends up talking to Roxanne, albeit disguised as Bernard, a museum attendent at the Metro Man Museum. From her, he gets the inspiration to create a new superhero to restore the balance in his life. Unfortunately his plan goes hideously awry when the recipient of his superhero formula turns out to be Hal, Roxanne's inept and all too flawed camerman.
And once again the story turns back to the question of just what makes a supervillain truly bad. Hal isn't evil per se, but he is lazy, petulant, completely self-centered and prone to tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Highly destructive tantrums once he discovers that he, as the intended new superhero Titan, has powers that put him beyond anyone else's control. Jonah Hill as the voice of Hal/Titan manages to perfectly bring out these serious flaws in Titan's character that result in Titan becoming a far more menacing threat to society than the ostensibly 'evil' Megamind ever was.
Craftsmanship-wise, everything in Megamind works well. The animation is colorful and eye-catching, the character design superb, and the voice actors distinctive and entertaining (Will Ferrell as Megamind, Brad Pitt as Metro Man, Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchie, Jonah Hill as Hal Stewart/Titan, and David Cross as Minion). There are also a lot of references and in-jokes worked in, some fairly obvious (Minion's exo-suit with the diving helmet head and gorilla-like body are a direct take from the classicly-bad scifi film Robot Monster) and fairly subtle (the museum attendant Bernard is voiced by Ben Stiller, who played a museum guard named Bernard in the two Night At The Museum movies).
Though the film was released at the theaters in 3D, you won't miss a thing seeing it on a DVD. Quite frankly, the whole 3D thing is a waste in most movies that have come out with it and Megamind is no exception.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys good animation with entertaining characters and story.
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\'A smart, funny and original treat,"Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post,DreamWorks Animation\'s Megamind puts a whole new hilarious twist on the superhero movie.
Super villain Megamind's (Will Ferrell) dreams have come true when he conquers the city's protector Metro Man (Brad Pitt) gaining control of Metro City.But when a new villain (Jonah Hill) is created and chaos runs rampant, the world's biggest "mind" and his comic sidekick Minion (David Cross) might actually save the day.With an all-star cast - including Tina Fey - and amazing animation, Megamind is packed with high-flying action and non-stop laughs.
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