Putting the Mind in MEGAMIND

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2011)

Let me begin this review by saying that I was very pleasantly surprised with 'Megamind.' I was not expecting much beyond what we've all seen in the trailers: cheeky laughs, slapstick humor, and the like. While it is certainly all there and accounted for, I was very surprised by the level of humanity and realism underneath the misleading facade of colorful, CG images which might have implied this would be a kid's movie and nothing more. Some of the great parts of the movie are present in the first few minutes of the film, where we see how Megamind came to be a villain. We see a baby Megamind being carried by his parents, who tell him that he was destined to become something, though he doesn't remember what. He is sent to Earth at the same time as Metro Man, his opposite and future rival. As fate has it, the baby Metro Man crash lands in a rich family's house while baby Megamind crash lands in a prison. They are raised in their new homes, causing them to become what their environments expect them to become. This bit in which the babies are seemingly thrown into a place where they seemingly 'belong' sets the stage for a great exploration of the theme of identity and destiny, and begs the question of whether we have roles to play or whether we directly choose our own paths.
Not much later, we see an older Megamind dealing with another problem that we should all be able relate to--the desire to be accepted by society. It is especially difficult for Megamind, being a the only blue alien among his many peers at school, while his rival, Metro Man, seems to always be the object of favor. As we get to understand Megamind's reasons for being a villain, there's an excellent example of role reversal--we perceive the 'bad guy,' Megamind, as the good guy, because we can relate to his problems and understand the motivation behind his actions. We also see the 'good guy', Metro Man, as the bad guy, because he is, ironically, less human than Megamind--Metro Man is without flaw, and is without any understanding or sympathy for Megamind. A good example is one of the earlier scenes, where Megamind accidentally starts a fire when he attempts to use a ray gun to pop corn for his classmates. Metro Man saves the class by extinguishing the fire, and he is praised while everyone shuns Megamind. Metro man and the class look past Megamind's intentions to be good, and only at the fact that a fire has been started from his attempt. They see Megamind in an unfortunately prejudiced way, and they don't consider the motivation for his actions, but only results of the actions themselves.
At that moment, Megamind feels that he and Metro man are destined to have specific roles as the bad guy and the good guy. The whole beginning sequence on the earlier years of Megamind works for well, packing a lot of humanity into first the few minutes. This is great for several reasons--we are immediately to connect to and root for our main character, Megamind, and none of it feels rushed. We immediately understand his jealousy and his desire to be accepted and have his own role--he decides that if he can't be perfect like Metro man, he will try to be what he is 'good' at--being bad. It also enables the rest of the film to explore the development of Megamind's established character and whether he is really stuck with the 'role' he's been given--and it all plays out very well as he discovers the path to one's destiny and identity with his rival Metro Man and his love interest, Roxanne. The film is also legitimately funny on multiple occasions! In short, I believe Megamind is a mega-masterpiece, and that it is also very thoughtful, putting the 'mind' in MEGAMIND.