It’s not easy being blue … and having a head shaped like a light bulb … and having a nemesis who’s perfect.
When Megamind was just a baby, his parents jettisoned him from their exploding planet and sent him off to a new homeland called Earth. The only problem was that another newborn was launched from a different collapsing world at the same time. (D’oh!)
That other tyke touched gently down in a life of luxury. But Mega crash-landed behind prison walls to be raised by criminals. The other guy grew up to be handsome, superduper and adored. Our skinny blue hero? Well, let’s just say, not so much. (Ugh.)
The two are constantly thrown together and seem destined to be rivals. And since the now full-grown Metro Man has all the heroic bases covered—along with being superfast, über-strong and invulnerable—well, Megamind figures that leaves him with only one choice: He’ll be the villain. (Sigh.)
But if he’s destined to be bad, he’ll be the smartest, evilest and most well-equipped supervillain the world has ever seen! So Megamind dreams, schemes and kidnaps Roxanne—the pretty reporter rumored to be his superfoe’s girl—and invents elaborate superguy traps. Metro Man, of course, flies in to save the day. Again. And again. And again. (Grrr.)
Then one day the oddest thing happens: The bad guy wins. Metro Man is no more, and Megamind rules Metro City. Somehow, though, not having a hero to fight makes everything so … pointless. The blue brainiac determines that something must be done about that. Even if it means applying all his superior genius to creating a new hero from the DNA of his fallen foe. (Broo-ha-ha!)
The fact is, like Phineas and Ferb‘s Dr. Doofenshmirtz before him, Megamind really isn’t a bad guy. But since he doesn’t look the part of the hero and is constantly running afoul of the really popular fellow, he figures he’s destined to be a villain. With time though, Megamind comes to understand that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. Roxanne reminds moviegoers that it’s our actions that count, not the way we look or what others expect from us. And as for the question of destiny, Megamind clearly states, “Destiny is not the path that’s given to us, but the path that we choose for ourselves.”
As Roxanne stumbles onto the truth about Megamind (that he doesn’t really want to be bad) we all come to realize that the scoundrel with the bulging noggin isn’t as despicable as we first thought.
The importance of friendship is emphasized as well. Megamind’s little blue piranha-like pet, Minion, sticks with him through thick and thin. And Megamind apologizes after hurting his pal’s feelings. More significantly, Mega says he’s sorry for the wrong he’s done to the city.
Roxanne points out, “As long as there is evil, good will stand up to it.” [Spoiler Warning] Her axiom is ultimately borne out when Megamind takes on the role of hero and stands up against an unexpected and overpowering evil—putting his life on the line for Roxanne and the residents of Metro City.
Those denizens of Metro City have an almost worshipful love of their hero Metro Man. And during one speech he uses his flight ability to appear to be walking on water.
After Megamind’s victory, Minion mentions that his parents must be smiling down from “evil heaven.” Mega creates a hero-making pill infused with the DNA of Metro and says it will give someone “god-like” powers.
Roxanne’s skintight outfits accentuate her overly voluptuous figure. The same goes for the guys’ backsides, too. We see Metro Man in his bathrobe. Roxanne kisses Megamind.
As different superpowered characters fight, they kick up loads of boom-bang destruction. For instance, Megamind uses the sun’s energy to blast Metro Man with an intense light ray. The resulting explosion demolishes a building and appears to reduce Metro Man to nothing but a skeleton. (We later find out that’s just a trick.)
Later, Megamind uses Metro Man’s DNA to turn Roxanne’s hapless, overweight cameraman, Hal, into a buff superhero. But Hal surprises everyone and goes over to the dark side to avenge the countless slights he’s received throughout his life. This new villain starts ripping up the city with his heat vision and superstrength.
Megamind also reduces characters to small cubes with a freeze-drying ray gun and threatens Roxanne with sharp, deadly looking weaponry. He employs tons of explosives to destroy a gigantic statue of Metro Man. As the movie opens (and closes), Megamind is tumbling from 80 stories up and reports that he’s falling to his death. Minion uses a forget-me-stick, which is essentially a club that knocks his victims out cold.
Hal drops Roxanne from high up in the air to prove that he can rescue her. After his water tank breaks, Minion appears to go through death throes. (He instantly revives when Megamind tosses him in some water.)
“Freakin’,” “good lord,” “god,” “gosh” and “crap nuggets” are examples of the film’s sporadic interjections.
While at dinner, Roxanne and a disguised Megamind share a glass of champagne. Other restaurant patrons drink wine.
To help emphasize his “evilness,” Megamind points out his custom-made baby seal leather boots. To demonstrate his invulnerability, Hal gives himself a superwedgie by yanking up his own underwear. Megamind tells Hal that Roxanne won’t find out his secret, saying, “That’s the point of lying.” One character threatens to “go all gangster” on another. The soundtrack includes the song “Highway to Hell” along with snippets from Ozzy Osbourne and Guns N’ Roses.
The trend in live-action superhero pics, as of late, has been to examine the good guy’s dark nature. In the animation universe, however, there appears to be an opposite mini-trend toward finding the bad guy’s sunny side.
This past summer, Despicable Me featured a baddy who found the error in his ways. And while that earlier release was more creative, endearing and thoughtful than this one, Megamind, while giving nods to the likes of Superman and The Incredibles, has some of the same appeal.
There really aren’t any supersized problems here to obliterate things, either. Roxanne’s curves are emphasized. And at first there seems to be quite a bit of death-dealing in this bad-to-good tale as well. One of the characters appears to be without any convictions at all when it comes to deadly superpowered zapping. But, without giving too much away, I can say that problem, uh, ultimately comes out in the wash with no lives lost.
I’m also happy to report that the jokes stay good-natured and avoid other DreamWorks Animation productions’ more problematic and flushable humor. The 3-D animation is crisp and fun.
Megamind wasn’t born to be bad, no matter how much the film plays the song that insists he was. He’s a superhero who gets supersidetracked … and then gathers the courage to say he’s sorry and pick the right path for a change.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
