Review of Megamind (2010) by Stuart K — 28 Apr 2014

Directed by Tom McGrath (Madagascar (2005) and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)), this was originally had one simple pitch, "What if Lex Luthor defeated Superman?", from there it just grew, and while it is a very silly film that sends up the conventions and cliches of superhero films, it is quite enjoyable.

It's almost like the dark version of The Incredibles (2004), where the baddie is the hero in a strange way. Megamind (Will Ferrell) is an intelligent super-villain who came to Earth as an infant after his home planet was sucked into a black hole.

However, he's had a rivalry with superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt), also an infant who came to Earth as an infant, around the same time Megamind did. They battle and Megamind constantly fails, however while Metro Man is honoured by the city of Metro City, Megamind kidnaps reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), and lures Metro Man into a trap, and he's killed.

Megaman revels in the fact he's won, but he misses having a nemesis, so he creates a new superhero, Titan, using news cameraman Hal Stewart (Jonah Hill), but Hal soon has other ideas. This has all been seen before elsewhere, and it should be funnier with a vocal cast like that, but it manages to be entertaining while it lasts, and the cast have fun hamming it up.

It could have been a lot better though, and there's a character called Minion in it, as there was another film out in 2010 with more than one Minion in it.