"Megamind" (2010) - Movie Review

Villains can be cool and likable in a sinister appreciation. Like how universally scary and admirable we were towards Heath Ledger’s Joker or the crazy psychopath Hannibal by Anthony Hopkins. We do not want to be the victim but are glorified by their wicked smartness. Megamind is not one of those but he is not to be taken seriously either. I think that is the reason we can never see him as a super villain but then again it is a movie for kids. “Despicable Me” did a better job in framing that kind of questionable liking towards the main man who was a mean and antisocial character.

In the early days of James Bond battling his super villains, the thought of the villain winning over Bond did not even pass through. In fact that would be the same thing the writers would have had it too. What would happen when the evil succeeds? Indie movie maybe? I am kidding, the possibility of the bad winning was never the case in the films expected to be satiating entertainment value. It is not the same in the current trend, the story continues to see the end for some remote semblance of hope to leave the audience. What would be the purpose of villains if they killed their purpose? That is the best part about “Megamind”.

Megamind (voice of Will Ferrell) has had a rough child hood right from a bad space ride where he has been consistently let down by super hero Metroman (voice of Brad Pitt). In search of finding his purpose, he identifies that him being the outcast is to do bad and he puts his big blue head to the works. The battles begin and always the symbol of good as seen by the Metrocity prevails through Metroman. Megamind succeeds suddenly and perishes Metroman. Now what?

Megamind goes off in being super bad and with his minion (voice of David Cross) but as always without solid challenge, he is bored. He truly misses his enemy. Megamind and Metroman were the sides of a coin and now he is left imbalanced without his nemesis. For little fun, “Megamind” would woo its kid audience and the parents not being superbly uninterested. As a film, it should have had more to offer with a fairly good plot line.

Will Ferrell’s voice does a lot more than celebrity value to this confused individual. He is never unlikable rather cute in his dysfunctional behaviour. His entrances are cliched but fantastic in choosing great songs. His transformation into growing a heart is expectedly effortless. He begins to disguise himself as someone else and runs on dates with Roxanne Ritchi (voice of Tina Fey), a journalist he always held as hostage for Metroman to rescue. Their love is eventual but not the way they fall for it.

In animation film which has developed into stand shoulder to shoulder with mainstream films of critical acclaim and subject matter, it is no more cannot be hiding under kids. It needs more substance than ingenious animation. True that animation is the backbone for it to run but the brains has to be there and the feelings has to be flesh and bones. In “Megamind” it is a routine or step by step procedure advancing towards something we all know and expect in any animation film.

With great names behind those characters destined to be funny, the film lacks deep understanding of those characters. When the idea is elemental, it needs the fillers to be powerful along with it. In “Megamind”, it got the core idea good. When the movie super villain achieves what they want, what can they do? “Megamind” says they will become good out of boredom. I believe in the boredom part for sure.