It’s good v evil, then evil v eviller, then good v evil again. Confused? Megamind 3D is a superhero tale with a twist. And it’s funny.
Megamind 3D starts off like a sequel until you realise it’s the same old storyline of most superhero stories. Two pods are sent from space to Earth. One contains Metro Man (Brad Pitt), a suave goody-two-shoes with charm and powers to match his ego. And the other has Megamind (Will Ferrell), a blue creature with a big head, and his hyper-intelligent pet fish named Minion (David Cross).
Megamind uses his powers to fight Metro Man, and traditionally loses, gets jailed , escapes and takes on Metro Man again. This is the superhero cliché this movie rails against and does it with good humour. When a museum is named in Metro Man’s honour (Metro Man celebrates by juggling babies and walking on water) Megamind attacks — and triumphs!
This is terrible news for Metro Man’s journalist girlfriend, Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), and for Megamind too. He soon finds life a bore without a real foe, so he creates Titan (“It was the only name I could trademark”) who was Roxanne’s cameraman-cum-accidental-hero-cum-villain (Jonah Hill).
This is a clever comedy that owes a lot to Will Ferrell’s comic timing and some great animation. The 3D works for some of the flying sequences, but is largely irrelevant.
There are plenty of jokes for parents; in fact, most of the jokes seem to be aimed at them. There’s a dingo joke, “No You Can’t!” posters, and great lines such as “Revenge is best served cold, or after being reheated in a microwave”, and Titan’s “father” is a Marlon Brando look-alike. It’s funny stuff, but you wonder how many of the kiddies will understand the many references or the irony of painting the White House blue.
The soundtrack features two AC/DC songs, Guns N’ Roses, ELO and even sends up Minnie Ripperton, but doesn’t go anywhere past the ’80s.
While Toy Story 3 and the latest Harry Potter movies have shades of darkness for their storylines, this movie is going to challenge children rather than frighten them. Even the children I took still liked Metro Man the best. Arch-villains are good for comedy, but it’s hard to ask kids to understand the yin and yang relationship between good and evil, and the love scenes are quite long.
In the end, it’s the good guys with the best gags who triumph, and in this world, that’s enough. (With Ben Stiller as one of the producers, you can be sure it’s going to be all about the comedy.) While Pixar will most likely be the box-office winner this year, this is still a movie worth taking the children to, although they may wonder why you’re laughing more than them.
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