The real evil, is not seeing it just because you don't have kids.

Rating: 8/10 (25 June 2020)

It's tempting to say this tried to do for the superhero genre what Shrek did for fairytales. But I guess the difference is that Shrek was really a misunderstood hero and Megamind is the real deal villain which is a pretty bold move.
It's not like he's not nuanced. During the opening origin story spiel it's hard to sort of shed a tear for him so that he is actually a remarkably sympathetic character and I was so rooting for him when he makes his jail break, so bad ass!
What we have is a self conscious subversion of a very familiar formula that asks some very intriguing what-ifs about the hero-villain dynamic sort of reminiscent of the artists villainousness of the Joker.
The pacy, always developing plot is most diverting and WIll Ferrells extravagant villain is just a delight against the smug do-gooder hero character. David Cross and Tina Fey also really bring as this movie proves itself worthy of our attention and avoids all the most obvious routes.
A lot of the animated movies targeting families often don't set the bar high for themselves as they indulge in lavatorial humor and too many pop culture references but here we have something solid. It's not less mature than Ferral's other work (yeah, I know); it's just a story with a real substance and developed characters that is animated just because that's the easiest way to realize what it wants to do. Though animation is never quite easy I know...
If you want something that can appeal to a wide section of the generation spectrum, something accessible to people who can't spell but yet totally isn't excruciating, despite it's off-putting poster and title, you could do so much worse than this.
I also kind of liked the depiction of later in life romance and a sexy older woman in the prime of her life that unusually rocks the short haired look.