Movie Review: Megamind 3D

Will Ferrell voices Megamind in DreamWorks Animation's Megamind 3D. Photo / Supplied

Rating: 3/5
Verdict: A lot of fun, but little heart

Megamind does for superheroes what Shrek did for fairytales, just not quite so well. It takes a well-known genre, a good vs evil theme and, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, has a lot of fun with it.

Megamind comes to us from DreamWorks, (also the home of Shrek) and follows in the footsteps of other villainous and superhero animations such as Despicable Me and The Incredibles. It's not new territory, but with the irrepressible Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and even Brad Pitt on vocals, it's hard not to get caught up in the fun.

In fact, it's Ferrell's performance as Megamind that makes this film drift longer than the story deserves, mainly because once he's on a roll the funny wisecracks just keep coming and he's impossible to stop or, in this case, cut.

The most brilliant super-villain the world has ever known, Megamind is also the least successful, thanks to Metro City's resident superhero and his childhood nemesis Metro Man (Pitt). So imagine his surprise when he actually manages to pull off an evil plan, defeating Metro Man and taking over the city. Fulfilling his lifelong dream turns out to be an anticlimax for Megamind, so to liven up Metro City he creates a new superhero who he can conquer, Titan (Jonah Hill). As you'd expect with one of Megamind's schemes, things don't go according to plan.

As the underdog, we love Megamind from the minute we meet him as a baby blue alien hurtling towards earth as his own planet implodes. No matter how dedicated or persistent he is at trying to be evil we know he's not really a baddie at heart, just a blue dude with a large head and self-esteem issues.

And that's a problem for a film about the transformation of a baddie to a goodie. Megamind's redemption is predictable from the very beginning so when it does happen it has little emotional impact. We always knew, just like his Lois Lane-like sidekick journalist Roxanne Ritchi (Fey) that he had it in him to be good.

Megamind is a great-looking 3D film featuring fantastic voice work and plenty of laughs for both adults and kids.

The only thing missing is a little soul to go with its very big brain.

LOWDOWN

Cast: Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell
Director: Tom McGrath
Running time: 96 mins
Rating: PG (Low Level Violence)

-TimeOut