Megamind

Megamind

Directed by: Tom McGrath
Cast: Will Ferrel as Megamind
Brad Pitt as Metro Man
Tina Fey as Roxanne Ritchi
Jonah Hill as Tighten/Hal
David Cross as Minion
Rated: PG

*The following may contain spoilers*
Overview
There are only two other animated movie reviews on this site: Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me. I don't see many animated movies, in theaters (I watched How To Train Your Dragon on DVD the other day, though and it was amazing). Occasionally, though, an animated movie will come out and catch my interest. Megamind was one of them.
I'll admit, when I first heard of it, I thought it seemed stupid. Then I saw a commercial and thought it would be another unoriginal, "all-the-funny-parts-in-the-commercial" superhero spoof. And then, I heard the plot. I accidentally watched an interview with Jonah Hill, the voice of Tighten in the movie. During said interview, he outlined the basic plot of the movie (wihout even calling "spoiler alert." Jerk). It was at that moment, I knew I had to see this film.

Megamind is quite possibly Dreamworks' best creation yet. It tells the tale of two aliens who are jettisoned to Earth as their two respective planets are sucked into a black hole (this is never explained). The bigheaded, blue one crashes in a prison yard, while his human-looking rival lands in a rich families living room. The film follows the life of the blue alien who, after a vicious childhood, adopts the name Megamind and becomes the supervillian rival to the other alien, a superhero named Metro Man, who can fly, shoot lasers, has super strength and "amazing hair."
*SPOILER ALERT*(that's how you do it, Jonah Hill) Megamind succeeds after many failed attempts and ends up killing Metro Man. Now, he rules the city, but quickly learns that its not all that fun when you've got everything in the world.

Positive Attributes
Megamind doesn't necessarily want to be evil, he just feels that he has to be, since Metro Man is the hero. *SPOILER* As a result, he eventually swaps roles and takes up the mantle of superhero.
Roxanne continually says "Good will always rise up to conquer evil." This is very broad and generic, as well as totally necessary to the plot, but I think it portrays a decent life application with it's "good will conquer evil" thing. Megamind insults his best friend and treats him like dirt, but later admits his wrong and asks for and receives Minions forgiveness
*SPOILER* Roxanne and Megamind develop feelings for each other, and even though Megamind originally lies to get close to her, she forgives him, saying it's not what we look like, it's who we are (paraphrased).
Roxanne is always very nice to Hal, (the guy who likes her and continually asks her out) no matter how creepy he gets. This teaches girls that, no matter how creepy a guy can e, always let them down gently. They might take it personally and try to kill you. (Just kidding. That only happens sometimes, ladies.)


Negative Attributes
Not a whole lot of "bad stuff" in the grown up department, but this is a kids movie, so:

Megamind has a taste for classic rock music and plays several hardcore songs, including "Highway to Hell".
Megamind gets beat up several times, and there are bits of slapstick violence throughout. Metro Man is killed with a giant laser that blows up the building he is in, and his skeleton lands in front of Megamind. They're are several references of "butt-kicking" and one shot of Megaminds behind tightly wrapped in leather.
During training, superhero Tighten is shown melting the face of a Megamind dummy with his laser eyes. Tighten is considerably violent, blasting the city and destroying buildings.
Hal and Tighten are both obsessed with Roxanne and give off creepy, stalker-like vibes. When she rejects Tighten, he goes on a rampage and threatens to kill her.
Megamind and Roxanne sip what appears to be champagne at dinner.

Summary
Megamind provides a rare mixture of comedy, action and good, clean fun. To many "childrens" films take it too far these days (Shrek, Dreamworks' earliest work is a prime example), but Megamind does a terrific job of steering clear of all things dirty, perverted or in the toilet, proving that you CAN have a successful, clean family movie. Two thumbs up, Dreamworks and three cheers for Megamind.

Personal Rating: 3 cheers, or 9 of 10
Plot: 9.5 of 10
Sexuality/Sensuality: 0.2 of 10
Drugs/Alcohol: 0.2 of 10