Megamind Review

Megamind is a 2010 superhero comedy film from DreamWorks Animation. It is such an underrated film that is without a doubt one of the funniest from the studio.

It follows an incompetent alien villain who somehow finally destroy his superhero foe only to find that he has no purpose without a superhero to fight and thus creates a new hero who becomes a villain and it is up to Megamind to stop him. Yes, this premise sounds incredibly clichéd. And it is like that in its execution as well. Everything here happens as expected when big plot points are concerned and of course we’ve all seen ‘a villain becomes good’ subplot a million times before. That is definitely a problem for the film and I wished that it had at least something authentic going for it.

However, that is not to say that the movie is bad as I don’t understand the criticism from many critics that it hurts the movie so bad. To me it does not as these kinds of films are usually familiar. But what makes this movie special is its humor and characters, but more on that later. What makes the story itself much better are definitely its twists and turns which are just awesome. I never saw most of them coming and that is great as it surprises you. Yes, the storyline stays on the same trajectory all the time, but at least the path to a conclusion is different and unique.

The characters are fantastic. All of them are superb and DreamWorks here created probably their best ensemble cast and the most unique plethora of characters. Megamind is phenomenal as our protagonist and although his story is typical, he is not as such as both his design and his behavior are interesting and he is incredibly funny. Metro Man is also really good with such a great story to him and Roxie is such a fantastic, strong female character that never turns into a typical superhero’s girl. The relationship between the two is typical, but sweet. Minion is also hilarious and the relationship between him and Megamind is even better than the aforementioned one as it is so funny and yet so lovable. But Tighter was annoying to me. I get his personality and why they did it, but he is still irritating and he is the worst character in this movie in my opinion.

The voice cast consists of too many celebrities once again and although I did recognize some of them and it was evident, I still liked it in this instance as they all really did a thoroughly spectacular job. Will Ferrell is amazing as the titular character and he gives the best performance here and phenomenally suits the character. Brad Pitt is also surprisingly good and Tina Fey is great as Roxie. David Cross also did a good job and Jonah Hill is such a natural fit for Hal and he did well.

The animation is very strong. It is never artistic or in any way moving, but it serves its purpose and is always polished and looks really good. The city is great, the interiors are superb and the action is well done, but it is the character design that is the standout feature here as it is truly terrific. Megamind’s design is simply fantastic and so memorable and the rest of the characters are all very well depicted as well.

As with its voice cast, the score is another aspect in Megamind that does not bother me as much as it did in ‘Shrek‘. Yes, it does use popular songs, but it uses them in a fun way for once and those scenes become truly entertaining. But they are also rare and it is mostly devoid of them which is great. But the score is not as good and is pretty forgettable.

The humor is absolutely amazing! This is the funniest DreamWorks film to me because it truly is hilarious. It wonderfully parodies the superhero genre and its many stupidities and I laughed so hard so many times while watching it. But Megamind is so funny as this over-the-top character and he in particular made me laugh a lot along with his scenes with Roxie.

Speaking of memorable sequences, Roxie’s capture by Megamind is simply hilarious and she wonderfully makes fun of all the clichéd traps he has for her. And when she finds his secret entrance is also incredibly funny. But the line “Please, let’s have a little respect for public transportation” gets me every time as the delivery is so great. The ending is typical and the beginning is clichéd and even annoying, but the aforementioned scenes make you forget all that and they make the film worth seeing.

Megamind is visually very appealing and is solidly directed and very well acted with its top-notch voice cast doing a fantastic job. It is also solidly paced and the tone is really well handled as it is not always a comedy, but some drama and even romance are there from time to time and are mostly well realized. It does have some emotional moments, but I wouldn’t say the film has a heart as it isn’t particularly heartwarming. But it is still very clever and such a superb parody of the tired superhero genre. The movie isn’t original, but isn’t predictable either as the twists are really unexpected and so well realized. The score is good at times, but not as memorable. And the dialogue is superb along with the character development. The humor is unfortunately mostly missing from the second half, but the first half is hilarious and the ending has its funny parts. And the film is mature, but still pleasant and should be watched by anyone. It is to me the studio’s best comedy and even one of their overall best films and definitely their most underrated.

Megamind isn’t as funny in the second half and the plot isn’t original, but it is also not predictable as it has many twists that are unexpected and so well executed. It has memorable and very well developed characters, superb voice cast, good animation and absolutely amazing humor with so many memorable and funny scenes. This is the best comedy from DreamWorks Animation and one of their best and most underrated films.

My Rating – 4

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      Interior & Exterior Stills from Megamind

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