We're all aware of the common superhero plotline that is out there. There's a superhero that has an archnemesis who constantly kidnaps the damsel in distress, the hero defeats the villain, wins the girl, and everyone is saved and happy until the villain makes his next evil move. It's a pretty generic formula if ever there was one. Though what if the villain defeats the hero and gets control of everything he wants? What's next? That's essentially the plot of "Megamind", the third animated film from DreamWorks in 2010 and probably the funniest. It may not be as emotionally riveting and gorgeous as "How To Train Your Dragon", but it's certainly a lot funnier and smarter than the dud that was "Shrek Forever After". It ain't amazing, but I still really liked it a lot.
The film opens with two alien planets headed for ultimate destruction. One of the planets contains what would end up the hero of Metro City, Metroman (Brad Pitt) and the other would end up carrying the villain, Megamind (Will Ferrell). Both have been rivals since birth and poor Megamind hasn't exactly had the best childhood. He ends up in prison when he arrives at Earth and is always sent into the corner for doing something wrong when he eventually goes to school despite always having his good pal Minion (David Cross) with him. One day though, he decides that he might have always meant to be the bad guy and eventually starts the rivalry between superhero and supervillain. This goes on for quite some time with Metroman beating Megamind and saving the damsel in distress, Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey). Though one day, Megamind ends up defeating Metroman and takes over Metro City only to find himself bored after getting everything he ever wants. Wanting to create a new villain, he ends up putting Metroman's powers into Roxanne's nerdy cameraman Hal (Jonah Hill) and disguises himself as an old wise teacher to teach him how to use his powers while also trying to win over Roxeanne after disguising himself as a museum curator named Bernard. What happens next you'll have to see for yourself.
While a lot of people have been making comparisons of this film to "Despicable Me" which also focused on a supervillain and came out the same year, the film I saw myself comparing it to more often was "Superman." It was clear that director Tom McGrath and his crew had really taken notes on Richard Donner's famed superhero movie and really decided to take a spin on the story and I think to successful results. It really is a pretty funny and zany film. I got some pretty good laughs with how often the film pokes fun at the standard formula so often used in superhero movies that I just couldn't help but enjoy what I was seeing. I also really found the subplot between Megamind and Roxanne enjoyable and couldn't help but get into their chemistry. As far as the animation goes, it's pretty good. While it's not as spectacular has the jaw-dropping visuals brought in "How to Train Your Dragon", it's still pleasant enough. It has some good flair to it, and I did find the character designs mostly good. There is one scene in the rain though that I simply loved looking at. It was easily the stand out scene of the movie visually and was simply well executed. Even the characters were also enjoyable with whom their poking fun at. Megamind is clearly trying to be like Lex Luthor and Brainiac, Metroman is obviously Superman, and Roxanne is easily Lois Lane and yet all do have distinctive personalities and come across as fun and enjoyable. Megamind and Roxeanne have some pretty good chemistry overall and I also found Minion a pretty loveable sidekick. He was easily a lot of fun and I think David Cross also made him work out so well. However, one character really did kind of stick out like a sore thumb to me and that was Hal. While he was a well-written character and funny at times, most of the time watching him I just kept thinking of Jonah Hill and not his character. The character even looks like Jonah Hill and it really was incredibly distracting at times. If DreamWorks changed the design for the character, I think it would've made the movie a little better. Also, the film does have a few pacing issues at times. Some scenes aren't quite as developed as they should be and one scene did go on longer than it should've, but that's only a minor problem I had with the film.
Overall, "Megamind" is simply a fun film. The story was brilliant with it poking fun at the generic superhero trope line, the animation was flashy and fun overall, and the characters were all likable and had great personalities to them. This was easily a fun ride and I really did enjoy this movie. It's not fantastic or one of the best films to come out of DreamWorks, but it's still a funny and zany film. I can gladly accept that. Also, one last note, I have to say that this soundtrack to this film was awesome. The filmmakers had a great taste of music.
