Film Review: ‘Megamind’ With Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt Barely Wins Animated Fight

Submitted by BrianTT on November 5, 2010 - 4:31pm

CHICAGO – Being a super-villain is apparently going out of style as “Megamind” follows relatively quickly on the heels of “Despicable Me” and both tell the story of a bad guy realizing that it’s more fun to be good. The title character of “Megamind” (Will Ferrell) is a nefarious super-powered fellow who has just barely lost every fight he’s had with the beloved Metroman (Brad Pitt). It seems appropriate that the film about them is also a marginal affair in which the good just barely outweighs the bad.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Stellar voice talent goes a long way in overcoming what is essentially a pretty lackluster script hampered even further by mediocre character and environment design. To put it another way, “Megamind” doesn’t have that memorable a story and isn’t as visually creative as it should be but you can’t find actors much better at this kind of material than Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and David Cross.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Megamind” in our reviews section.

The opening act details the history of Megamind and Metroman, life-long nemeses sent to Earth in a sequence that clearly parodies the opening act of “Superman.” Through what is essentially luck, the perfectly-coifed, good-looking guy becomes the superhero and the ugly, blue, bald dude becomes the super-villain. On the occasion of the opening of the Metroman Museum in the center of Metro City, Megamind stages yet another kidnapping of the beautiful Roxie (Tina Fey) in an attempt to lure Metroman into another trap. To everyone’s surprise, his plan finally works and Metroman ends up dead.

After taking over the city and wreaking cartoonish havoc with his pal Minion (David Cross), Megamind realizes that a villain without a hero is a yin without a yang. He decides to try and create a hero to complete him and bring meaning to his life again. Using a bit of Metroman’s remaining DNA, he accidentally infuses superhero powers into a slob of a cameraman named Hal (Jonah Hill), turning him into Titan. Of course, Megamind learns that the definition of hero or villain can’t just be placed on someone. It’s about what’s inside.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Megamind” review.

‘Megamind’ stars Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt. It was written by Alan J. Schoolcraft & Brent Simons and directed by Tom McGrath. It opens on November 5th, 2010. It is rated PG.