Film Review | Megamind

Let’s face it: we’ve all sided with the bad guy at some point. The good guys are nice to look up to when you’re a wee tyke, but as adolescent angst kicks in, and matures into the default cynicism of adulthood, the cookie-cutter altruism, strength and moral indefatigability of the good guys inspires more bitterness and frustration than anything else.

So it’s both refreshing and amusing to see two animated features pulling the rug under Superman and his ilk pretty much back to back. With the brilliant Despicable Me having left local cinemas not too long ago, the creators of Megamind – a Dreamworks production that also tells the story from the supervillain’s point of view – must have felt jibbed at having their thunder stolen.

But while Megamind isn’t nearly as heartwarming as its unwitting counterpart, it’s still a showcase of what Dreamworks do best, i.e., gleefully reinvent a kid-friendly concept to accommodate both film geeks and jaded adults.

From the beginning, Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell), hasn’t had it easy. Like Superman, he was sent to Earth as a baby as his planet faced imminent destruction.

But unlike the Man of Steel, he crash-lands into a random prison, learning that good is bad and bad is good. It is Metro Man (Brad Pitt), another alien refugee, who becomes the defender of Metro City instead, and the two become gleeful arch-enemies, falling into the standard superhero/supervillain pattern where Megamind’s scientifically elaborate and fiendish attacks on the city are regularly foiled by the square-jawed formidability that is Metro Man.

But one day, unbelievably, Megamind – with the help of his appropriately-monickered sidekick Minion (David Cross) – manages to defeat the city’s superhero.

Initially elated to finally have Metro City (which he pronounces as ‘metrocity’) under his thumb, Megamind rapidly grows bored of not having a rival to challenge. Boredom begets depression, and depression begets desperation – inspiring the devious genius to create another superhero from scratch.

But the plot thickens as Megamind, taking on the guise of an ineffectual museum curator Bernard (Ben Stiller), seduces news reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) – often his choice of ‘damsel in distress’ and a love interest to the now-deceased Metro Man – and, actually… begins to fall in love.

Despicable Me – which also made the supervillanous Gru a character to root for – was about the importance of love and family. Megamind, on the other hand, is about little else than itself, and seems content to batter around with its concept and the references that make it up.

One thing’s for sure, it’s a lovely bit of 3D dazzle: if we’re still comparing, Despicable Me had a nicely-rendered, squidgy feel, whereas Megamind gets action-flick mileage out of its superhero roots. There’s some serious destruction and super-powered slugfests going on here, and will be appreciated by fans of the genre, especially given how well the 3D works.

As is the case with most Dreamworks productions, the overload of stars stops being an invigorating novelty and just becomes passé. For one, Ferrell is basically unrecognisable, so casting him is a bit redundant, apart from the fact that Megamind could have easily been a Farrell role in a previous film (physical appearance permitting, of course).

Casting Fey is just as tokenistic. It is only Jonah Hill’s Hal Stewart (moulded into Titan or, er, ‘Tighten’, as he calls himself) who really brings his personality to the frustrated geek who carries unrequited feelings for Roxanne.

But while it’s basically little more than Shrek for superheroes, the Dreamworks magic works in full gear to make Megamind a thoroughly enjoyable masterpiece… proving, if ever proof was needed, that cartoons are often your best bet for an unblemished outing at the movies these days.