Movie Review: Megamind – Heroes & Villains

(4 out of 5 starfish)

Did you notice that in most stories, good defeats evil, and the good guy always gets the girl?  Armed with his brilliant evil mind and his fishy minion, Megamind, an alien from the Glaopunk quadrant, attempts a different fate.

In this new DreamWorks’ animation that opens on Nov 5, Megamind is easy to identify with despite having a huge blue head, a thin body frame, and always wearing a black cape.  He starts a rivalry on the day he is sent to Earth by his alien parents, with another resident of the same quadrant, “Metro Man.” Metro Man eventually becomes the “Superman” of Metro City, worshiped by all citizens whenever he appears.

Megamind has an air of sarcasm hanging around him.  But he has a weakness for Roxanne Ritchi, a nosy but attractive reporter who has adored Metro Man from the start.  Roxanne gets kidnapped by Megamind.  Metro Man always comes to the rescue, but not TODAY…

Today, Megamind is thinking about doing something dastardly evil to Metro Man.  This time he succeeds, or does he?

The funniest part is when Megamind hangs posters around Metro City, inspired by Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” presidential campaign, except here it says “No You Can’t” with Megamind’s red and blue portrait on it!

Compared to Gru, the super villain from “Despicable Me,” Megamind has a little less depth, but a lot more humor.  One thing Gru and Megamind share is that both are transformed by love; Gru by the love of the orphan girls and Megamind by the romantic love of a woman.  I prefer the cuter and more mischievous minions in Despicable Me, better than the small metal robot minions in Megamind.

For some reason, the character design of Megamind is not as appealing to me as the other characters.  But I don’t know how it can be improved.

It is curious that both aliens (Megamind and Metro Man) from a distant galaxy have traits and features that are all too human, except for Metro Man’s superpower and Megamind’s colossal head and blue skin.  I also wonder how could Megamind’s Alien parents speak English to him when they sent him off to Earth?

“Megamind” is full of character and situation-based humor without being crude, which I like.  Considering it is created by the Shrek team, I am impressed by their progress.  The film is rated PG for action and some language.  Many jokes target adults, very young children will not likely understand or appreciate the humor.  The film has rich characters and interesting storyline.  I give it 4 starfish.  It is “Perrific!”

Megamind is about heroes and villains, love and redemption.  Only love can transform a villain into a hero.

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At 10, Perry Chen is the youngest award-winning entertainment critic, TV personality, Annie Awards presenter, filmmaker/animator, and radio host, reviewing movies and entertainment with his trademark kids-friendly starfish from a child’s perspective.  Perry became a national sensation on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and National Public Radio (NPR) with Liane Hansen, and a frequent star on the red carpet at film festivals and premiers.  He is the youngest columnist for the San Diego Entertainer Magazine and recently won the San Diego Press Club 2010 Excellence in Journalism Awards.  He was featured on Variety for being one of the leading young film critics:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118026037.html?categoryid=4137&cs=1

Read all of Perry’s reviews and upcoming events on his website http://www.perryspreviews.com

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