Spectacular fun

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2010)

Megamind is one of those movies which occupies the uncomfortable position of second out of the box. In this case Despicable Me was the first CGI feature about a lovable, and ultimately redeemable villain and, when the first one is good (as Despicable Me was), the second effort often suffers criticism by comparison.
Personally, I liked Megamind more, for two reasons.
One, it doesn't have the air of sentimentality which pervaded Despicable Me. And, two, it has some terrific super-hero stuff, and I'm a sucker for my super-heroing. In a beautifully realised city, some serious mayhem is wreaked, with heat vision being particularly well portrayed.
Will Ferrell's Megamind starts off sounding like a cross between Roddie McDowell and the Chief Blue Meanie before finding his own voice. Tina Fay's Roxanne is so closely modelled on Lois Lane that I'm surprised DC haven't sued. Brad Pitt's Metro Man is suitably heroic (and unaware of how crass he's being) and Jonah Hill does good voice work on Titan/Tighten, albeit the character looks disconcertingly like Seth Rogen.
This movie was good fun, and the 3D worked very well. Oh, and there are lots of little touches for old school super-hero comic fans to watch out for.