Megamind

Tonight, I watched “Megamind vs the Doom Syndicate,” but first, I should let everyone know of the first “Megamind,” released in 2010.

Mayer Nissim started his review by saying, “When it comes to animated flicks, studios must be tempted to cobble together a cliché-laden script, toss in some pop culture references for the mums and dads, pile on the celeb names, stick it in 3D and hope that the punters will roll in.” Often enough, that works, so it’s nice when a group of people try to make something a little more special. “Megamind” might be cast with big names, it does have the odd mischievous nod for adults – and it is made in inglorious 3D – but it’s also got a screenplay overflowing with charm, intelligence, wit, and a real spark.

We start at the beginning, with Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) flying to Earth in pods that look like something out of Superman. After the prologue, we see that Metro Man gets a happy life with wealthy parents, while Megamind is raised in a nearby correctional facility. Skip to the present and the two ruthless enemies wage their superhero fight over Metro City. However, the one-sidedness of their fight makes it a little sad. Megamind and his spikey fish sidekick Minion (David Cross) regularly kidnap news reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) from under the nose of her colleague Hal (Jonah Hill), Metro Man saves her and throws Megamind in prison. Rinse and repeat. Then, somehow everything changes, throwing up an existential crisis for our protagonist. Stuck without a rival, he injects the hopeless Hal with some superpowers, naming him “Tighten” to bring back the old good/evil fistfights, but things don’t go exactly as planned.

Megamind’s bad guy with a heart of gold isn’t the most surprisingly original character in movie history, but Ferrell voices him with real emotion to win you over from the beginning. Fey, Cross, and even Pitt succeed by actually playing well-done parts, rather than animated versions of themselves. Nissim said, “Of course, Hill's Hal looks just like him, and his character isn't a million miles away from his usual on-screen persona either. That's a small quibble considering how well-deployed his co-stars are, though, and naturally it's a job he does pretty well.”

There are some smart themes about identity, the nature/nurture debate, and good guys and bad guys, but you never feel as if the film gets too smart for its good. Nissim noted, “There are gigglesome set-pieces, witty sight gags, clever one-liners and references that actually skewer their original source rather than just replicate them for the recognition factor - Megamind's Obama-like 'No You Can't' posters get a laugh every time they pop up on screen.” What makes “Megamind” enjoyable is that it never goes through the motions. You can probably guess at the end from very early on, but it’s really enjoyable getting there.

I think my brother had told me that I should see this movie because he said it was a great DreamWorks movie. When I checked it out a few days ago on Peacock, I couldn’t believe that I never saw the film. Now I can say I saw it and I think everyone should as well if they haven’t seen it. You will like this film, even though there are things in the film that you will question. Still, it’s a good movie for the entire movie to see.

I was surprised to see that they made a sequel this year. However, they did, and it was released on Peacock four days ago, “Megamind vs the Doom Syndicate.”

Seeing how this was written by the same team that wrote the first “Megamind,” it’s no surprise that “Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate” has fingerprints of the charm and humor that made the original a cult film.

Unfortunately, they’re too few and far between. Most of “Megamind’s” sequel is a cliched bore and has a lot of plot holes in regards to the first film that it’s hard to take this seriously as a proper sequel at all.

In “Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate,” the previously evil Megamind, voiced by Keith Ferguson, is no longer evil. He’s now Metro City’s hero, keeping the citizens safe and stopping villains from committing crimes. When Megamind’s old evil group hears about this in the news, however, they think Megamind is simply pretending to be good and visit him, and Megamind has to pretend to still be evil, while thinking of a way to beat his old villain team.

The continuity errors from the first film are shocking. Not one character mentions the Doom Syndicate throughout the first film, but Megamind used to be their leader. The syndicate claims they’ve been waiting patiently for a signal from Megamind, but somehow missed the events of the first film when Megamind took over Metro City. This sequel also claims that villains have been appearing since Metro Man’s defeat, but the only villains we saw in the first movie were Megamind and Titan, and Metro Man was defeated at the beginning of the film.

Joey Rambles said in his review, “Even disregarding the continuity errors, though, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is mostly just a slog to get through.” The animation is a step down from the first film, and aside from one scene in the final act, there are no interesting camera angles or movements, either. That’s mainly because the first film had great action scenes of characters flying or controlling contraptions, the Megamind sequel doesn’t have a lot for the characters to do.

Instead, it’s mostly just Megamind doing his best to make the façade of him still being evil, and a predictable subplot of Minion (now called Chum) quitting being Megamind’s sidekick and excelling in his new job at a diner. The setup for this sequel feels more like a comedy than the first movie, and the jokes work a lot less. Rambles said, “The majority of them are pretty groan-inducing, especially the ones that get repeated ad nauseam, and the new characters are too one-dimensional to be any fun watching.”

Rambles said, “There are a few jokes that work here, however, and not just work, but boast traces of the witty writing from the first film.” They’re not on the same level, but they do show both screenplays were made by the same people, which is also evident in the way the returning characters are written.

Rambles said, “Megamind, Chum (Josh Brener), and Roxanne (Laura Post) aren’t nearly as fun this time around — and their voice acting isn’t nearly as good, either — but they also don’t seem too far removed from how they were in the first film, and a lot of the jokes that work stem from an understanding of these characters’ personalities.”

That said, they’ve also lost a large amount of their depth, mostly because they’re not given a lot to do other than try and defeat the Doom Syndicate (Emily Tunon, Scott Adsit, Talon Warburton, Chris Sullivan, and singer Adam Lambert). “Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate” also serves as the pilot of the show “Megamind Rules!”, and because of that, most of the movie feels restricted by the need to set up a follow-up. Rambles said, “There can’t be any intriguing character arcs since this is mostly just a glorified prologue, and what it’s setting up isn’t compelling enough to make you want to watch the show.”

Whether it be as a pilot of a show or a sequel film, though, “Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate” has little to offer viewers that’s worth watching, especially if you’re a big fan of the first film.

As you might have guessed, this film does not hold a candle to the first film. It doesn’t seem like a needed film or if they needed a sequel to serve as a pilot to a show. If they wanted to make the show, they could have done it with no problem. There was no need to make this film. I don’t know how good the show is going to be as I don’t think I will see it. I don’t think people should see this on Peacock because they will not like it.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Stay tuned on Friday for the continuation of “John Hughes Month.”