Mega mind (voiced by Will Ferrell) just can’t get a break. The product of a broken home (literally; his world exploded soon after his parents jettisoned him in a rocket ship), Megamind has been competing with the super heroic Mega Man, who also landed on earth in a rocket ship from a doomed planet--but wound up being cared for by a wealthy family who gave him everything, while Megamind grew up being raised by convicts in a prison. It was while he attended school--while constantly being upstaged by his fellow classmate, the oh-so-perfect Mega Kid--that Megamind finally realized his true calling: he was meant to be a super villain.
And so begins a glorious career of trying to take over Metro City--a place where Megamind often mistakenly calls Metrocity, as in being a pretty mediocre place--while constantly being foiled by Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt). On the very day that the city opens its Metro Man museum to honor its favorite son, Megamind escapes from prison and kidnaps Roxanne (voiced by Tina Fey), the Lois Lane-like TV reporter to Metro Man’s Superman, so that he can launch a grand plan to finally kill his hated enemy once and for all.
And, to Megamind’s shock, he succeeds! Metro Man is finally dead! Ok, great…but
now what? Tom McGrath, the director of Madagascar, gives us this genial comedy
that’s an extremely funny riff on the Superman myth, as well as superheroes in
general. One is tempted to compare it to The Incredibles, the exhilarating
superhero fantasy that both pokes fun at, as well as smartly uses, the traditional
superhero clichés. But while Megamind doesn’t aim as quite as high as Brad Bird’s
animated masterpiece, it’s still very enjoyable in its own right.
Will Ferrell is perfect voice casting as the blue-skinned, bald Megamind--in fact,
he’s so good he disappears into the role. Brad Pitt and Tina Fey are inspired
choices for the Superman/Lois Lane duo. And Jonah Hill is funny as the dorky
cameraman who’s smitten with Roxanne. The action is creatively staged, and despite
the overall humorous tone, the climax is just as thrilling as any showdown from
a recent superhero film. While it may not be in the same league as The
Incredibles, Megamind makes for a great double feature with that seminal film.
--SF
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