With Dreamworks’ heavy marketing and its cast of comedy all-stars including Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and David Cross (“Arrested Development”), “Megamind” has garnered a lot of buzz. And it indeed lives up to the hype as a fresh, witty take on the standard superhero-versus-supervillain movie. The movie’s own catchphrase on the poster captures its essence: “A superhero movie with a mind of its own.”
The movie cuts the mainstream superhero elements out of the picture the moment it starts, while the main character, Megamind (Will Ferrell), is still an adorable baby.
With an enormous black hole swallowing his planet, little Megamind’s parents rush him into the space capsule with their last words: “You are destined for…,” but a confused Megamind fails to catch the key part of his parents’ blessing and is thrown onto Earth to figure out his destiny. And destiny indeed has its own plans. It sends his arch nemesis, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), another alien baby with superpowers, to a wealthy foster family with a huge mansion in Metro City. Little Megamind, on the other hand, gets flown into the city jail, where he develops a questionable worldview and moral compass.
When the time comes for young Megamind to go to school, he realizes he’s the one awkward kid who simply doesn’t blend in. Embarrassed and frustrated by the other kids in class, especially young Metro Man, Megamind embraces evil to gain attention, also igniting the rivalry that drives the film.
Predictably, each challenge Megamind poses to Metro Man ends in humiliating failure, though Megamind manages to find joy and fulfillment through his attempts. But one day, he unexpectedly succeeds, and suddenly, he finds himself lost and without purpose. Where does he go from there?
The movie definitely brings in the laughs. There are countless hilarious moments between the awkward supervillain and his fishy sidekick Minion while they execute his plans. More giggles are induced with Metro Man’s debatable singing talents and Megamind’s ridiculous belongings, like his weird-looking robot pets and “Black Mamba” supervillain costume.
Every superhero-versus-supervillain movie involves saving the beauty. In this case, the beauty is Metro Man’s girlfriend Roxanne (Tina Fey), a TV news reporter. As a super-predictable villain, no matter how hard he tries, Megamind just cannot intimidate the fearless Roxanne even a little bit. However, mutual dislike is the start of many a love story. You see where I’m going. Nonetheless, the romance in the film is never cliché, which adds to the fun.
“Megamind” is a movie full of fun, adventure, romance, good versus evil, ridiculousness, surprises and, of course, scenes of skyscrapers falling, superheroes fighting, damsels in distress and Metro City in constant peril. In the end, all it comes down to is the struggle between good and evil within everyone’s heart. The movie doesn’t forget to teach some nice moral lessons to the younger ones in the crowd. One last note to movie-goers: Don’t miss the last funny bit of the movie. Stay until the very end of the credits to watch it!