RSS

Movie Review: A Villain vs. Superhero Story with a Twist


Megamind

The latest animated comedy from DreamWorks Animation is a villain vs. superhero story with a twist -- one where you may end up rooting for the unlikely character. The villain here is the Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell), who continuously terrorizes Metro City -- but the city and its people are always rescued by suave superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Megamind and Metro Man are both aliens who were sent to Earth as babies from their respective home planets. On Earth, they've had a long rivalry -- but Megamind always seems to be outwitted by Metro Man. Then during one of Megamind's many hostage plots involving news reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), tragedy strikes -- and it looks like Metro Man is finally out of the picture.

Now freed from his rival's shadow, Megamind proceeds to take control of Metro City. But over time, the big blue-headed villain comes to realize that he no longer has any purpose in life without an enemy. So, he concocts a plan to turn Roxanne's goofy cameraman Hal (Jonah Hill) into Metro City's next big superhero, the fiery-headed Titan. But things do not go as planned when power quickly goes to Titan's head. Aided by his fish-like sidekick Minion (David Cross), Megamind must find a way to resolve an even bigger issue -- as Metro City now has two villains and no superheroes.

Written by
Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, the film is directed by Tom McGrath (Madagascar). All borrow plot points from recent animated features -- including Monsters vs. Aliens and Despicable Me -- so, the film isn't as original as it could be. And be forewarned, it's neither a laugh-out riot nor a 3D spectacular (it's ok to see in 2D!). But the animation and strong cast rescue the film's shortcomings. Ferrell (The Other Guys), Fey (Ponyo), Hill (Cyrus) and Cross (Alvin and The Chipmunks) add much liveliness to the tale. Surprisingly, only Pitt (Inglourious Basterds) is a bit flat in his first animated role. [Rated PG; opens today]


Grade: B


Notes:

  • Thanks to AOL, you can watch the first five minutes of the film -- with an introduction by Will Ferrell -- here. The opening serves as a great back-story that sets the stage well.
  • Click on the Film Reviews icon at left for more reviews.

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Get Paid To Promote, Get Paid To Popup, Get Paid Display Banner

Environment Powered by Mysiterank
Preview on Feedage: lily-putts Add to My Yahoo! Add to Google! Add to AOL! Add to MSN
Subscribe in NewsGator Online Add to Netvibes Subscribe in Pakeflakes Subscribe in Bloglines Add to Alesti RSS Reader
Add to Feedage.com Groups Add to Windows Live iPing-it Add to Feedage RSS Alerts Add To Fwicki
Feedage Grade A rated Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory Subscribe My Feed