Ferrell's comic talents push this into the positive

Rating: 7/10 (22 August 2011)

Yes, I know, another stunt-cast animated feature that's sure to appeal to adults as well as to kids. But it's because of that supposed stunt casting that Megamind works, at least to some degree. Will Ferrell and Tina Fey, along with Brad Pitt, own their roles and imbue them with purpose and personality. The animation itself is standard, and the story is simply steady, but everyone involved appears to be having a blast.
Megamind (Ferrell) is an evil mastermind whose plotting never pans out. He lives in Metro City (which he amusingly pronounces "Metr-ocity," rhyming with "atrocity"), which is defended by the saint-like Metroman (Pitt). Both hero and villain came to Earth from faraway planets but diverging destinies, and they've been fighting each other almost since their arrival. But every battle ends the same – Megamind is captured and jailed, and later he escapes and begins the feud anew. Until, that is, the day when he finally does defeat Metroman and thus loses his purpose in life. I'm sure we can all sort of relate to that.
Other characters include a chirpy reporter named Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey), who's close to Metroman, and Hal Stewart (Jonah Hill), a cameraman who wants to be close to Roxanne. They make unlikely allies and adversaries, and not always with each other. They are also played to opposite degrees of success; Fey is as likable and adorable as always, but Hill is just flat as the doting cameraman. You'd think that would be right up his alley, but a change in character midway through doesn't feel sincere, and it's mostly because Hill himself lacks the poise and panache to pull it off effectively.
Fey and Ferrell work very well together here, which shouldn't be too surprising. They're both comic talents, and they know their timing well. But there's this, too: there's a fine line between being funny and being hammy, and it's easy to jump over that line for most comic actors. Give them too much rope, they chew the scenery with it, to mix two completely unrelated metaphors. Each actor has a lot of fun with his or her character (it wouldn't surprise me if there had been some improv involved) without running amok with it. That helps the so-so script and plot devices. Also helping: David Cross as a fish-like alien who came to Earth with Megamind and has been his loyal sidekick ever since. He's named Minion for some reason. (Yes, I am kidding.)