Megamind

Megamind – Supervillain, Megamind, dedicates his life to becoming a constant thorn in the side of superhero, Metro Man. However, when Metro Man is killed, Megamind is bereft, without purpose. Despite finding comfort by having a few dates with savvy reporter, Roxanne, he sets about creating a new superhero to fight against. Unfortunately his plan backfires when his superhero serum is accidentally injected into the selfish and arrogant, Hal. When Hal begins to destroy the city, Megamind soon finds himself out of his depth. Does Metro City need a hero, or a villan?

Megamind (2010) – Director: Tom McGrath

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28958347

Rating: PG

Running Length: 95 mins

Starring: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill

Genre: Animated, Comedy

REVIEW: MEGAMIND

Dreamworks have always been somewhat hit and miss with their kids films and have struggled in their rivalry with powerhouse, Pixar. Thankfully, ‘Megamind’ is one of Dreamworks’ hits, giving us a true anti-hero to root for. Starting by showing his tragic backstory and how hard he tried to be good helps us truly warm to Megamind. That his intelligence only is only surpassed by his incompetence adds even more to his loveable underdog persona. Twisting the superhero genre on its head and breathing fresh air into it, Megamind gives us a fast paced and funny movie that both kids and adults can enjoy.

With Will Ferrell and Tina Fey at the helm as Megamind and Roxanne respectively, their natural chemistry and banter work well. They act as a core of a film that could have gone off the rails once the tone shifts when the ‘evil’ Titan comes into his own. While the overall story is good, there are a few problematic themes that could do with being handled better. For instance, Hal’s toxic infatuation with Roxanne is initially given a relatively light-hearted tone but his behaviour borders on stalking and it would be good to have this at least acknowledged before it gets out of hand. Yes, his toxic attraction warps, but ideally the movie should take the opportunity to clearly show children how quickly this kind of adoration can become dangerous if it is ignored for too long.

Also, Megamind deceiving Roxanne into dating him (in disguise as someone else) may have caused Roxanne to become angry and feel betrayed when she finds out but Megamind’s main concern is with being found out rather than the effect it will have on Roxanne (a woman who he has repeatedly kidnapped and threatened). Yet she soon forgives him once a worse threat (in the form of Titan’s even worse romantic advances) presents itself. It seems the message here is that women should put up with a slightly less terrible man because other suiters are worse.

Potentially problematic themes aside, overall Megamind is a whole heap of fun. It’s eponymous anti-hero is genuinely funny with plenty of heart to give the character more than superficial likeability. The negatives may be something that adults may wish to discuss with children but kids themselves will be perfectly happy to enjoy it exactly as it is.

CONTENT: IS MEGAMIND SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with Megamind falling in slow motion from a great height, he narrates this moment saying ‘I’m falling to my death’.

The story then switches to showing Megamind as a baby on an alien planet. His parents rush to place him in a pod which sends him away from his planet and into outer space. As he hurtles through the cosmos, his planet can be seen in the background being sucked into a black hole.

Megamind’s pod lands inside the walls of a prison. He is raised there by the inmates and kept inside a cell. The inmates teach him wrong things, like robbers are good and cops are bad.

When Megamind goes to school, he tries hard to fit in and be liked but never manages to make any friends and is often picked on by another alien with superpowers. He is therefore always left out and he is often seen dejected and lonely. He eventually realises that being good has gotten him nowhere and he decides to be bad from then on.

A female character is unexpectedly sprayed in the face and instantly falls unconscious. She is then taken away in a car and kept prisoner. When she wakes up, she is threatened with increasingly terrifying torture techniques, however as she knows her assailant and his incompetence, she never shows any concern and knows she won’t come to any harm.

A ‘good’ character enjoys the adoration given to him by a huge crowd of people. Showing off his abilities, he picks up several babies and juggles them high into the air. He then throws them back to their parents, they all land safely and everyone cheers and some cops shoot their guns into the air in excitement.

A character is irritated by a large man standing in front of him, he touches his shoulder to complain but the figure suddenly turns around and is a robot disguised as a person. The robot has one large red ‘eye’ the protrudes and scares the man and his baby.

Megamind tells someone that he has baby seal leather boots.

The city’s hero, Metro Man is tricked by Megamind and is hit by a death ray, causing the building he is in to explode. A figure shoots through the sky which is believed to be Metro Man escaping, however when it is discovered to be a skeleton wearing Metro Man’s cape, the hero has clearly been killed.

A news reporter asks ‘Are you ready to be a slave army? What you need to know!’

Roxanne’s colleague, Hal, clearly wants to date her however he is quite creepy towards her saying ‘I’d be watching you liked a dingo watches a human baby’ although he acknowledges that what he said ‘sounded a little weird’. He also invites her to a party but then admits it’ll just be the two of them and that he has hired a wedding photographer. She tells him clearly that she isn’t interested but he doesn’t listen and tries to push her into agreeing to go. This is portrayed as light hearted but his obsession with her is very unhealthy and gets worse as the film progresses.

When Megamind begins to train Hal to become the superhero, Titan, he soon gets carried away, taking a dummy designed to look like Megamind and using his laser eyes to melt it’s head. Megamind looks on in horror.

Titan takes Roxanne, thinking he is being romantic but she isn’t interested in his advances. He repeatedly drops her from a height and catches her, saying that he is rescuing her but she clearly afraid rather than impressed. This leads Titan to become angry and aggressive because she doesn’t want to be with him.

When Titan and Megamind fight, Megamind is used to the fights he had with Metro Man where neither of them would actually try to kill the other so when Titan makes it clear that he intends to kill Megamind, he narrowly escapes his deadly laser eyes and has to flee.

During a fight, a character looks over at what appears to be Megamind lying dead, impaled by the spike of a building. However, this isn’t exactly as seems to be although a character has been hurt and an emotional moment ensues.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS MEGAMIND FOR KIDS?

Lots of fun and plenty of laughs although some things could have been done better, Megamind is a brightly coloured comedy that gives a fresh take on the superhero genre. Due to some scary scenes that may upset younger kids, we feel Megamind is appropriate for kids aged 5 and over.

• Violence: 2/5
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (an established character appears to be dying and their loved ones become upset)
• Fear Factor: 2/5 (Titan’s aggression and violence could be scary for younger kids)
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (Hal has an unhealthy obsession with Roxanne)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (a character says ‘crap nuggets’)
• Dialogue: 1/5 (Two characters laugh and say ‘We’re gonna die!’. The Guns ‘N’ Roses song, Welcome To The Jungle, plays and the line ‘You’re a very sexy girl’ is sung at a prominent moment)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of heroes and villains, having a purpose, wanting to be a better person, giving power to the wrong person, toxic friendships, infatuation, entitlement, trust, deception, and honesty.

Words by Laura Record