Director: Tom McGrath
Starring: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, David Cross
Synopsis: After supervillain Megamind defeats his arch-nemesis, Metro Man, he creates a new hero to oppose him.
I had pretty low expectations for Megamind. Not because I don’t like kids’ movies or anything. Some of them are absolutely brilliant, and they’re the perfect films to watch whilst hungover. I’m just not much of a fan of Will Ferrell’s schtick (except Anchorman, obviously) and, to be honest, Dreamworks have had a fairly mediocre track record. Add to that the fact that the mate who recommended it once willingly sat through the emoji movie and actually enjoyed himself, and I was pretty dubious about the whole thing. As it happens, I was pleasantly surprised.
Probably the best thing about the film is it’s script; it is really, genuinely funny. And yes, maybe that’s partially because I wasn’t expecting much more than an hour and a half of poop jokes, but I found myself laughing out loud (and when I say loud, I do mean loud) on several occasions. The writers, Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons (a frat boy name if ever I heard one) have a brilliant grasp on comic book dialogue, and there’s an absolutely joyous scene where Megamind and his nemesis discuss the possibility of reheating revenge in the microwave (it’s funnier than it sounds, I swear).
The voice cast is actually pretty decent too. Will Ferrell’s obnoxious man-child thing occasionally shines through, but for the most part you forget you’re even watching him (in a good way, I mean). Jonah Hill absolutely nails most of his lines, and he’s actually pretty unnerving in some scenes as the main villain. And Brad Pitt makes a potentially pompous and annoying character surprisingly likeable.
Now I’m not saying the movie is anywhere near perfect. Unfortunately, Tina Fey feels kinda wasted as a Lois Lane stand in who doesn’t get many funny lines or much of a character arc. The same goes for David Cross, who does his best with the unfortunately named Minion, a comic-relief sidekick who isn’t particularly funny. Still, neither of them do anything particularly wrong, so I can only complain so much (maybe the first time I’ve ever said that about a film. Ever).
The film also feels like it wastes its premise. Although it has plenty of fun subverting basic superhero tropes, it never really goes for broke when it comes to exploring the idea of a villain winning, or whether redemption is possible (of course it is, it’s a Dreamworks film, but it would have been nice if they’d pretended it wasn’t totally inevitable). The lack of ambition stops it from ever reaching the heights of say, The Incredibles. Then again, it’d be churlish to dismiss it just because it’s not quite as good as one of the best animated films of all time. Well, you could, but it’d be a dick move.
Probably the biggest flaw is the final act. The climactic battle gives up on mocking superhero tropes and just straight up goes for them, making it pretty bland. It doesn’t help that the ending features the obligatory Noughties animated movie dance number which just feels weird and annoying. Still, that’s nowhere near enough to derail the whole film.
In short, Megamind is probably never going to set the world on fire, but it’s always good for a laugh and a lot wittier than you might think. Whilst they never really explore the full potential of the premise, and the final act falls flat, there’s nothing particularly annoying in there and plenty of good stuff. A fun movie for kids and a damned fine hungover film.
6/10
But like, a really strong 6, if that makes sense.
Natflix 