Grade: A
As two planets lie on the brink of destruction, hopeful parents launch their kids toward Earth. One boy lands in a rich home, while the other crashes into a prison. No points for correctly guessing who turns out evil.
Raised by some of Metro City's finest criminals, Megamind (Will Ferrell, Everything Must Go), the Smurf-colored villain, is continually upstaged by the winsome heroics of Metro Man (Brad Pitt, Inglorious Basterds). Following the pattern of most dastardly masterminds, Megamind continually plans, and fails, to take revenge.
That is until his most recent kidnapping of the Lois Lane-esque reporter, Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey, Date Night), leads to the untimely death of everyone's favorite defender of justice. With Metro Man deep-sixed, Megamind is free to become the supremely evil overlord of Metro City.
However, uncontested reign turns out to be a tad too boring for Megamind. To make life a bit more interesting, he and his sidekick, Minion (David Cross, The Legend of Secret Places), harvest Metro Man's DNA to create a new hero to battle.
Yet Megamind's incompetence is beyond all levels of comprehension, and he accidently administers the DNA to Ritchi's love-struck cameraman, Hal (Jonah Hill, Get Him to the Greek).
To make it all the more complicated, Megamind also masquerades around as Hal's (now the superhero, Tighten) "space father" in order to train him to battle Megamind. All the while, he also poses as Bernard (Justin Theroux, John Adams) while he dates Ritchi.
However, since Megamind is a bumbling fool, the Tighten project goes awry and Megamind must become the hero, showing that heroes are made, not born.
It's a big story packed into a small amount of time. Director Tom McGrath (The Penguins of Madagascar) doesn't waste his precious screen time with long-winded discussions or ceaseless montages. The witty banter is quick and to the point while action rules the plotline.
Hilarity is the main staple of the film, which can be seen from the cast selection. From Megamind's mispronunciations and miscalculations to Ritchi's sighs of exasperation, comedy is written into every line and every action.
With most of the story riding on the character of Megamind, Ferrell has control of the audience. As he morphs from character to character, Ferrell's vocal expressions and personality are seamlessly transferred, which is probably one of the best accomplishments of the film.
Another major achievement of the movie is its ability to mask actors' identities. Too often, viewers of animated films are left with an easy recognition of a character's voice. Instead of sitting there and just seeing Metro Man on the screen, one would be acutely aware that it is Pitt speaking. The director of Megamind, though, has managed to sidestep this pitfall, crafting characters that own their voices.
Although Fey's role is one of the most important, it is decidedly unmemorable. She might have half of the lines in the movie, but they are easily forgettable. Even though the character is pivotal to the plot and does garner some laughs, she is the yin to Megamind's yang and thus the dull voice of reason.
Like many of the recent animated films, Megamind is offered in 3-D. However, creators avoid the shock-and-awe tactics so often preferred by others, concentrating instead on a subtler application.
Rather than throwing action in the audience members' faces, Megamind uses the extra depth to extend the screen by about five more feet. It's not an effect that is necessarily needed for this film, but it adds an artistic touch, showing the movie from angles previously inaccessible.
Megamind is definitely good for the brand of college student that still loves this so-called "child" genre. Although it may not be worth the extra money to splurge for the 3-D version, the film still provides quite an entertaining 90 minutes.
