An amusing, albeit unspectacular, diversion with a great voice cast.

Rating: 7/10 (11 January 2011)

I recently saw Dreamworks animation's Megamind, a film about a failed supervillain who discovers he makes a better good guy than bad guy. A plot like this hasn't been tackled at since... last Summer with the release of Despicable Me. And out of these two movies, Megamind is funnier, much more finely fleshed out, and just a better movie in general.
Will Ferrell voices Megamind, the blue skinned, bulbous headed title supervillain. His evil schemes to take over Metro City are frequently foiled by his nemesis Metro Man (Voiced by Brad Pitt), a superhero who always saves the day, and the Lois Lane of their hometown, Roxanne Ritchi (Voiced by Tina Fey). But when Megamind accidentally defeats his nemesis, he falls into a slump. But decides to alter that by creating a new superhero out of a nerdy cameraman (Voiced by Jonah Hill), and in the guise of a museum curator, strikes up a relationship with Roxanne, all the while, his cold heart begins to warm The idea of taking the clichés of superhero movies, and turning them into quirky and unfamiliar territory is really nothing new, especially to those who've seen Pixar's The Incredibles, but what you'll get is a pleasantly surprising animated feature, albeit an unspectacular one. The characters tend to hop between emotions sporadically, and the story isn't all THAT inspired, (Plus the film's third act kind of drags) but the humor of the film, which ranges from witty one-liners and tickling sight gags, made me laugh a great many times, especially an homage to Marlon Brando's character from the Superman movies.
The film also has a great voice cast, Ferrell, Pitt, Fey, and Hill are all given great material to work with, and their timing is effective, though one of the more interesting mentions is David Cross, who voices Megamind's scene stealing fish henchmen named Minion. The animation is slick, and dazzling, and the sound design by Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl is some impressive craftsmanship.
I can't quite say Megamind is a "Three Star" movie, because it just isn't. It doesn't completely nail down the tone it wants of itself, and to be honest, it might be a tad forgettable, but It's really enjoyable for what it is.
I give Megamind **1/2 out of ****