STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable
Excellent
Good
Poor
Tragic

FILM DETAILS

Certificate PG

Cast Brad Pitt Will Ferrell Jonah Hill Tina Fey David Cross.

Directors Tom McGrath.

Screenwriters Alan J. Schoolcraft Brent Simons.

Running Time 96 minutes

LATEST FILM REVIEWS Behind The Candelabra Iceman , The Before Midnight Everybody Has A Plan Easy Money 5 STAR REVIEWS My Neighbour Totoro Gatekeepers , The Stoker In The House Lincoln

Megamind
Triumph Of The Will (Ferrell)

Tweet

Plot
Megamind (Ferrell) is the blue nemesis of Metro City’s hero, Metro Man (Pitt). When one of his evil plans finally works and Metro Man is out of the picture, the villain must figure out what to do now that he is no longer thwarted by good. A long-burning attraction to feisty reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Fey) is also a worry. Is he all bad?

Review
Let’s face it, if you’ve seen one superhero story, you’ve pretty much seen them all: alien/regular kid affected by supernatural powers/rich person with access to fantastic gadgets rises to meet regular threats from ne’erdowells, learning lessons about the costs of being a hero. Repeat, and indeed, repeat box office. No surprise, then, that pretty much every major production house has kept superhero movies in tentpole release dates over the last decade-and-a-half. All, that is, apart from DreamWorks Animation — until now.

Wisely, they enter this very crowded field with a fresh(er) take — the villain’s point of view. It must have been slightly crushing for the Megamind crew to learn of Despicable Me being developed at the same time, but their similarities can be written off as coincidence — Megamind, from its very beginning, is far more interested in playing with the conventions of the genre. From his opening salvo, our anti-hero explains his uncannily familiar origins — at eight days old, sent to Earth by his parents from their dying galaxy, and the blue, large-craniumed baby grows up in the shadow of a square-jawed, smug git who is universally beloved, can fly, and has life handed to him on a silver platter. The git becomes Metro Man (Brad Pitt), and the adult Megamind (Will Ferrell) wants only to destroy him. All is according to the grand law of comics, until one day the villain actually succeeds. After the initial shock and novelty of being in charge wears off, Megamind finds himself a ying with no yang.

The upside-down premise delivers the gags thick, fast, and with a healthy success rate. Ferrell delivers solidly, again confirming why he’s one of the best comedic line-readers out there. Despite this, though, a curious feeling envelopes the film — like it could be even funnier, if only he and the cast were really allowed to let fly. It crystallises a dilemma that DreamWorks Animation has always had — a policy of loading the voice cast with A-listers ultimately burdens the script and the story. It’s no fault of the actors, but if you want to analyse the differences between DreamWorks and Pixar, here’s where to start.

That said, the animation and 3D are as slick as we’ve now come to expect, perhaps not reaching the dizzy heights of previous offering How To Train Your Dragon, but enjoyable stuff all the same.

Related Reviews

Sounds
Megamind

Write Your Review
To write your review please login or register.

Your Reviews

Average user rating for Megamind

Think Despicable me meets the Incredibles but not half as good...

When a film's trailer shows all the events of the first 20 minutes and nothing else it doesnt feel too promising. Megamind for all its fun elements is fairly uninspiring and routinely predictable. Reflections on the two films mentioned are simply unavoidable and unfortunately feels abit of a rip off of their storylines. To be positive the visuals are impressive, voice acting is faultless and posesses some great humourous moments making this not exactly a movie to stay away from. ... More

Posted by trainedasninja at 23:06, 13 June 2012 | Report This Post

better than Finding Nemo and Ratatoulie ... More

Posted by david hayes at 00:38, 26 May 2012 | Report This Post

Megamind Review

It regurgitates plot points from earlier animated efforts, and isn't quite as funny as it should be, but a top-shelf voice cast and strong visuals help make Megamind a pleasant, if unspectacular, diversion. ... More

Posted by the film man at 22:09, 02 January 2012 | Report This Post

best animated film in years ... More

Posted by david hayes at 14:25, 01 January 2012 | Report This Post

RE: Megamind

A decent enough film and definitely better than the similar Despicable Me. However, there is definitely something missing from the film although I am hard pressed to define what precisely that is. Will Ferrell didn't really work as the voice of the main character and the secondary characters were very limited. A rather average film but entertaining enough. ... More

Posted by sanchia at 17:22, 25 July 2011 | Report This Post

RE: Megamind

L: D-ToX I was really looking forward to this one but I have to say I left the cinema a little disappointed, something just didn't sit right with me, I think the tone was little off and it needed to be a lot darker or lighter, it is like they did not have the guts to go either way and played it safe by sticking in the middle. sp; Pretty much what I was just about to say.   2 and half stars. ... More

Posted by jcthefirst at 13:53, 25 July 2011 | Report This Post

The first time I've rooted for a villan

An energetic film with a good solid journey filled with comedy and action in equal and well amounted proportions. Perhaps a touch more ambition could have really elevated this film in the the stars. It had the concept and cast, it just needed a little more drive. ... More

Posted by Zayd Awan at 21:50, 09 April 2011 | Report This Post

megamind

took my son 2 see this,he laughed twice and the rest was just boring.dissapointing ... More

Posted by ianrobertmuir at 14:31, 23 February 2011 | Report This Post

Best animation ever

Well after toy story and tangled but this film was WAY funnier than this reveiw is implying. I love it so much because it is so underratted. For those who will appreciate this.....he does the DOUGIE dance at the end. Say no more! ... More

Posted by MariannaBelle at 14:31, 17 January 2011 | Report This Post

RE: Megamind

I was really looking forward to this one but I have to say I left the cinema a little disappointed, something just didn't sit right with me, I think the tone was little off and it needed to be a lot darker or lighter, it is like they did not have the guts to go either way and played it safe by sticking in the middle. I was also not particularly fond of the characters in it, besides Megamind the other characters were not reallyflushed out and none of the star names brought anything special to ... More

Posted by D-ToX at 11:44, 30 December 2010 | Report This Post

RE: EVERYBODY LOVES THE VILLAIN

I disagree Lenera! Here's my review, anyway. The superhero movie has been done many, many times. Possibly every angle has been taken. The clear cut (Superman), the dark skew (Darkman), the realism take (Batman Begins), the postmodern irony angle (The Incredibles), and even the bad-guy-as-good-guy-really angle (Despicable Me). But where that last film was touted as "this year's Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" it had none of the spontaneous fun that permeated that gem from 2009. Megamind,... More

Posted by homersimpson_esq at 00:46, 20 December 2010 | Report This Post

RE: EVERYBODY LOVES THE VILLAIN

Dreamworks are probably a little peed off that Despicable Me was being made around the same time as their own animated take on the supervillain, and, being a bit better, will probably be more remembered.   The emphasis in Megamind though is quite different.  Essentially a twist on Superman, replete with Will Ferrell doing a hilarious Marlon Brando impersonation, it winds up being yet another Beauty And The Beast variant with lots of predictable stuff about acceptance and all that... More

Posted by Dr Lenera at 21:00, 11 December 2010 | Report This Post

RE: EVERYBODY LOVES THE VILLAIN

This film is actually hilarious, loved it from start to finish. Brilliant concept carried out briilliantly, couldn't recommend it enough How it only got 3 boggles me but every man to his own, i'd give it 4 (it's not perfect like) ... More

Posted by musht at 23:00, 04 December 2010 | Report This Post

CURRENT HIGHLIGHTS
		Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch: A Beginner's Guide To The Avengers 2 Newcomers Your primer on the brother and sister joining the A-team
		Clint Mansell On Making Requiem For A Dream 'Darren had to edit at night because he could get access to the studio for free then.'
		Arrested Development Video Interviews Say hello to Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Tony Hale, Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat
		Empire's Favourite Music Moments From The Pixies to Burt Bacharach via Audioslave
		Cannes Film Festival Videblogisode #2 Episode II: Attack Of The Clouds featuring Emma Watson and Paul Haggis
		The 20 Soundtracks That Defined The 2000s The sounds of a dark knight, a mischievous Parisian, a troubled family and one flying house...
		Movie Poster Mashups: The Furniture Edition You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be appalled at the punning...

Follow @empiremagazine