Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
I think I was supposed to get more out of MEGAMIND than I actually did. Maybe I've just grown weary of these meta superhero movies that examine what makes up the hero-villain mythology. While a film like Kick-Ass actually populated its story with extremely interesting characters, MEGAMIND seems to toy with the idea that, by presenting the cliche hero and villain, it's being clever by simply rattling off a series of safe jokes and a plot that's about as transparent as The Invisible Girl/Woman. I liked the way this film opened, with a look at Megamind's history growing up the outcast. It's a lot like the story of the Wicked Witch seen through the filter of the musical "Wicked." These aren't bad people, just folks who were were shunned their whole lives and grew to resent society.
After landing on Earth after his parents jettisoned him from his dying home world, the young boy who would grow to be the world's greatest villain Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell) way always made to look worse by his classmate and later mortal enemy Metro Man (Brad Pitt), also from another world. Metro Man is the basically a stand in for Superman, and frankly, I think Pitt does a terrible job injecting any personality into the character. He selects a lower octave in his voice and makes every sentence out of his mouth sound like an announcement. As with any superhero story, there's a love interest. In MEGAMIND, the woman is Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), probably the most interesting element in this movie. Roxanne is often the victim of Megamind's nefarious plans to draw Metro Man out into the open so Megamind can kill him, but it never works, and everyone is bored with the game. But one day, almost by accident, while a museum in Metro Man's honor is being unveiled, Megamind stumbles upon his nemesis' vulnerability and ends up defeating him quite soundly. The town of Metro City is devastated and a wave of evil sweeps over the land... sort of.
If there's a lesson in MEGAMIND, it is that heroism is all about timing and opportunity. And when Roxanne's geeky cameraman (voiced by Jonah Hill) is turned into a super-villain named Tighten, suddenly the city needs a new hero and Megamind is allowed to fulfill his dream the way he has wanted to since he was a child. And that's pretty much it. Sure, there are a couple of interesting voice talents on hand, such as David Cross as Megamind's right-hand fish Minion, Ben Stiller as Megamind's dad, and J.K. Simmons as the warden at the prison where Megamind spends a lot of time. But basically, MEGAMIND turns the villain into the hero in an only slightly different (and not nearly as effective) way as DESPICABLE ME did over the summer. Granted, the brands of evil in the two films is different, but it's basically the same premise executed differently.
By the time I got home from watching MEGAMIND, most of the details had already escaped my brain. Some of the jokes work; most of them are obvious and barely worthy of a smirk. In the end, the film didn't work for me because I don't think it added anything to the superhero conversation. And in the current sea of hero flicks, anything new kind of needs to at this point. I will give credit where credit is due. The use of 3D in Megamind is really stunning, as it tends to be with animated fare. But that basically means that I would have enjoyed the film almost as much if they'd turned the sound off. There's a great deal of effort from Tom McGrath, director of the two MADAGASCAR films, but MEGAMIND simply doesn't give the payoff it should.
-- Capone
capone@aintitcool.com
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