Megamind

(The Dreamworks-uary logo is shown, before showing a clip from *The Tick*)

Doug (vo): As soon as *The Tick* came around, superhero parodies have become a dime a dozen. *[Posters of* The Incredibles *and* Mystery Men *are shown]* There's some real good ones, there's some real bad ones. But bottom line, the shtick has been done to death. So if you're gonna do it, you should have a really damn good angle.

*[Clips from* Megamind *are shown]*

Doug (vo): *Megamind*...sort of does. It's nothing really that new. It's the superhero, supervillain, and damsel in distress sort of taking on roles they wouldn't usually take on. So, from a comedic standpoint, it doesn't really work that great, but from a dramatic standpoint, it actually has a few good moments.

## Story

Doug (vo): We have Megamind, played by Will Ferrell. He's in the process of trying to destroy a superhero, played by Brad Pitt, by kidnapping his lady, played by Tina Fey. All three of them have gone through this shtick dozens of times. The hero always wins, the villain's thrown in jail, and the damsel's always rescued. That is, except for one day, when it appears that Megamind actually wins. Yeah, he actually destroys the superhero and ends up taking over the world. But he quickly realizes taking over the world is kind of boring. Now that he has it, he doesn't know what to do with it. He has all the power in the world, but nobody to love him. He doesn't know how to feel, or what to do about it, so he gets in contact with Tina Fey again. She, of course, tries to stay away from him, but overtime, she starts to notice the true tragedy of the character. In fact, even a very bizarre sort of romance starts to form. That is, until Megamind thinks he figures out what he needs. He tries to find an everyday schmoe and give him superpowers, so that way, he'll have an arch-nemesis yet again to fight. But the downside is, the arch-nemesis actually doesn't want to do good, which forces Megamind to ironically be the hero, and once again, having to save the damsel in distress.

## Review

Doug (vo): So if you're familiar with superhero knockoffs and parodies, a lot of this is pretty familiar, and it's not...unfunny, it's just maybe a little too familiar. We've seen it over and over again. But it is with still very likeable characters. Brad Pitt even has a pretty funny story near the end about how he comes to a conclusion about himself, and how. But oddly enough, most of the movie is sort of spent in conversations, mostly between Megamind and the romantic lead...they're pretty good conversations. I'll admit, I probably would like a few more laughs out of this, I mean, I would like to see a comedy, but for these conversations they're having, it's not bad. I actually do end up caring for both of them, and am sort of curious where the relationship between the two of them is going to go.

*[The film's action sequences, and some of the side characters, are shown]*

Doug (vo): The action in the movie is good, but not as good as some other DreamWorks Animation. The side characters get a few laughs, but not enough to take away focus from the main characters. I guess I really only have two major problems with it. One is, yes, I could've used a lot more jokes. I mean, it's a parody of superheroes, there's so much you can do with that, and people have done with that, and...I don't know, I just sort of feel like we got *Incredibles* again; taking what should be a superhero comedy and making it actually pretty serious. But to be fair, from a different point of view. And the other thing is, I find it a little distracting that Megamind becomes the hero, the hero becomes...well, okay, I won't give it away, but it's kind of the opposite. And the damsel becomes...still the damsel. Yeah, that kind of bothered me. I mean, yeah, she goes through a change in that she sort of becomes interested in Megamind, but come on. We're really gonna hang her off the tower again, we're really gonna do this whole shtick? You were doing so good at making her an interesting character, then you just go Mary Jane on our asses. Why couldn't she be the hero and maybe the superhero the villain, and maybe Megamind the person has to be saved? You know, some sort of switch up that made sense and equaled out. I don't know. To me, it just seemed like a big missed opportunity.

## Final thought

Doug (vo): But for what we did get, I think *Megamind* was a cute film. I'd say it certainly has more adult moments than other DreamWorks movies in that, well, there's a lot of sitting down and talking, but like I said, I think the characters are enjoyable enough to listen to, and you even get pretty wrapped up in their drama. I don't think it's a grand film in terms of superhero flicks, or even emotional dramas, but it's not bad. I came out glad to know that the characters I wanted to be okay came out okay. Not a great film, but a good one. I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.

*[The final scene, showing Megamind being declared the city's newest hero, is shown]*