Megamind isn’t going to win any awards for best picture, and it shouldn’t by any means. It isn’t a culturally significant film, it doesn’t change the way people look at the world, it doesn’t examine society in a way that sheds some light onto new truths, and it doesn’t have visuals set to inspire a new generation of filmmakers. But it is an incredibly pleasant film that has led to one of my more joyful film-watching experiences in a while.
I’ve always blasted people for liking stupid movies. When someone tells me that their favorite movie is something where the attractive but overworked girl ends up getting the nerdy but charismatic guy, or the popular guy gets the nerdy but secretly hot because she’s a Hollywood actress girl, I usually insult their intelligence. But sometimes the people making an easy-to-watch, little-thought-needed film get it right, which is the case with Megamind.
Starring Will Ferrell as the title character, Megamind tells the tale of a blue, large-headed alien child who is sent to earth by his parents as his home-planet is destroyed, and doesn’t hear the full sentence when his parents tell him that he is destined for something. Megamind doesn’t know what he is destined for, and after a socially awkward youth he decides that maybe he is destined to be bad, since he can’t do anything good in spite of his best efforts. Flash forward, and Megamind is a super villain of Metro City, while his childhood nemesis (and fellow former baby sent away from his home-planet that is being destroyed) Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt) has become the city’s super hero. The two have battled, with Megamind always coming away as the loser, until Megamind is finally able to defeat Metro Man early in the film. Megamind bathes in victory, until he becomes bored and realizes that without a superhero to fight, his life has lost meaning. So, as we would all do in that situation, he turns a random citizen, (played poorly by Jonah Hill) who also happens to be the cameraman for love interest Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) into a genetically transformed superhero, who eventually becomes evil and forces Megamind to become the good guy.
Some of the best childhood movies have characters experiencing serious adult psychological issues, but in a really cute way. Toy Story 3 can be read as a story of the toys losing faith (possibly in religion) and trying to find something else to believe in, but eventually having their faith restored by a Jesus figure (Woody). The Lion King is about coming to terms with a troubled childhood and having the courage to become an adult. And apparently E.T. is about a boy coming to terms with his father leaving him (although I haven’t seen the movie in 15 years so I can’t confirm that). Along those lines, Megamind is about characters having an existential crisis and figuring out what actually makes them happy (in a cute way). Just look at the best part of Happy Feet 2 (which was cute but not really as satisfying a movie), which was when Brad Pitt’s krill character described dancing as a “momentary relief from the existential terrors of existence.
Megamind’s existential crisis is partly due to Metro Man’s defeat, and partly due to him falling in love with reporter Roxanne Ritchi, who was routinely captured my Megamind and saved by Metro Man. Feeling that the bad guy never gets the girl, Ritchi provides extra incentive for Megamind to question his identity as a villain, as well as providing the film a romantic angle.
The existential crisis is key for Megamind’s likability, as it proves he isn’t just an evil guy, and therefore isn’t someone we should automatically hate. Whereas some villains, notably The Joker from The Dark Knight, gain pleasure in other people’s misery, that was never the reason for Megamind’s evil. Instead, the film crafts Megamind as a misunderstood child who turns to mischief because that is what he is good at. The film portrays the adolescent Metro Man as a rich douche who gets everything handed to him and constantly shows off his powers, painting him as more of the stupid college frat boy that we are allowed to hate. Megamind tries to fit in, to assimilate with the rest of the children, but fails. Therefore, the audience is able to side with Megamind, the city’s villain, while hating Metro Man, the city’s hero, and accepts Megamind turning to evil as not someone who is crazy, but someone who is just trying to create an identity for himself.
Later in the film, after Megamind’s victory, Megamind becomes unsatisfied with his life because he has nothing to do, and he feels like he has lost part of his identity. With this, Megamind’s villainy becomes barely serious and almost comedic, and is portrayed as more of a job than a personality trait. Like someone who misses being a football player, or someone who misses their old job, Megamind misses his former hobbies of terrorizing the city and battling Metro Man. This is smart, as it provides further likability to the character, since his reasons for evil are not just him being a dick.
Adding even more to Megamind’s likability is the film’s comedic bits. It becomes hard to take Megamind seriously when he pronounces Metro City like metrocity (sounding like atrocity). When Roxanne Ritchi mocks her kidnapping, and calls Megamind’s tricks predictable, we see Megamind as a bit of a comedic failure, and not a real villain. In fact, the characters in the film seem more like squabbling, immature children than real adults, which helps lighten the mood. Being silly is just part of life in the film, and the comedy is done perfectly
The low part of the film is the character who Megamind accidently turns into a Super Hero, Hal Stewart (voiced by Jonah Hill). Stewart starts off as an overweight, socially awkward camera man (who is more annoying than funny) for his crush Roxanne Ritchi, and later becomes a selfish super hero who ends up fitting the role of the villain. As a character, Stewart isn’t too terrible. But every time he talks, it’s incredibly clear that Jonah Hill was miscast as the voice. While Will Ferrell blends perfectly into the Mega Mind character, Jonah Hill fails in all accounts. The audience is perpetually aware that the character is being voiced by Hill, and is therefore thinking of Hill instead of the character. Hill simply does not have the vocal flexibility for this role, as compared to Ferrell who shows an impressive range and who, despite his unique voice, becomes forgotten as we focus on the character and not the actor.
Also worth noting for his role is David Cross, who plays Megamind’s pet fish/best friend/sidekick Minion, who is basically an alien fish in a bowl that has been attached to a robotic gorilla body. Minion becomes one of the best characters because of his perpetually pleasant attitude that leads to hilariously delivered lines. During a kidnapping of Roxanne Ritchi, Minion cheerfully reveals to Ritchi that they get most of their equipment from an outlet store in Romania, a line that made me laugh and also lightens the mood of the kidnapping. Minion is funny, positive, and impossible to not love, thanks in large part to David Cross’s voice, which perfectly fits the smiling, simple character.
Overall, this is an incredibly pleasant film that isn’t too deep but still provides characters with enough depth that the audience cares about them. I actually related to Megamind, which is something I can’t say for many characters in animated family films. And while expertly presenting the story, the film also manages to fit in plently of laughs, featuring a great combination well-animated slapstick, funny dialogue, and references that only adults would get (Ferrell doing a cheesy Marlon Brando voice while Megamind pretends to be a character based off of Superman’s Jor-El, who was played by Brando). This movie won’t leave you contemplating much at all, but will leave you with a smile. Except for the Jonah Hill parts, because they sucked.
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