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| Theatrical poster artwork for the animated comedy action film Megamind. |
Virtuous
Villain by Linh
On the surface, animated film Megamind from DreamWorks looks like another twist on Illumination
Entertainment’s debut feature animation Despicable
Me. Megamind has the same plot of a villain-turned-hero, but with
deeper meanings and more complex concepts such as existentialism. This time, there are no cute little orphan
girls warming the heart of a super-villain, but a spunky female reporter armed
with razor wit and a sharp tongue.
Megamind
upturns the traditional tale of the hero defeating the villain to win the love
of a good woman, into a humour-filled, life-changing adventure for a villain
who finally realises his true calling in life and a hero who willingly loses to
win. Megamind also references other
super-hero, horror and science fiction films such as Superman, Frankenstein, The Karate Kid (not the re-make starring
Jaden Smith) and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The film opens with Megamind (Will Ferrell) narrating
over several seconds from the ending scene, before launching into a ten-minute
prologue explaining Megamind’s backstory and his encounters with Metro Man
(Brad Pitt) since they were babies. When Megamind was only eight days old, his
home planet was soon to be destroyed so his parents placed him in a space
shuttle crib with a piranha sidekick named Minion and sent them hurtling
towards Earth. Along the way, baby Megamind meets baby Metro Man and a rivalry
begins. Baby Metro Man lands into the home of a good family, while Megamind
crashes into the yard of Metro City’s Prison for the Criminally Gifted.
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MALEVOLENT
MASTERMIND: Megamind (Will Ferrell) plots to destroy
Metro Man and Metro City in the film Megamind.
Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures.
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Fast forward to the present, Megamind escapes from
prison, yet again, with the help of Minion (David Cross), and is seen plotting
another attack to destroy Metro City with his army of brain-bots in tow,
capturing the local reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) and killing his
arch-nemesis Metro Man. When Megamind’s evil plot to kill Metro Man succeeds,
his sweet success soon turns sour as he discovers his villainy is useless
without a hero to fight him. Megamind
sets out to remedy his problem with disastrous results for himself and Metro
City.
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RESILIENT
REPORTER: Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) becomes accustomed to
Megamind's failed attempts to destroy Metro City in the film Megamind. Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount
Pictures.
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Megamind has
a cast of comedic talent to voice quirky, irreverent and funny characters who
experience consequences resulting from the choices they make in life. That is
the main theme carried throughout the film as the characters choose how to use
their human or super-human powers for the purposes of good or evil.
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SUPERHERO
SAVIOUR: Metro Man (Brad Pitt) high fives the audience as they
prepare to honour him with the opening of the Metro Man Museum in the film Megamind. Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount
Pictures.
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Will Ferrell (The
Other Guys, Anchorman: The Legend
Continues) voices Megamind, the super-villain with a sense of humour that’s
child-like but makes him affable. Ferrell gives Megamind an inquiring mind and
endearing charm, despite speech flaws such as placing the emphasis on the wrong
vowel in words like ‘melancholy’ and mispronouncing names like ‘Metro City’ to
rhyme with ‘velocity’. Since childhood, Megamind’s super-intelligence has
enabled him to create weapons of mass mayhem and develop inventions for evil purposes
such as the dehydration/rehydration gun, the invisible car, the brain-bots who
carry out his dastardly deeds, the superhero infuser/defuser gun and the
identity-altering watch. Megamind also built the gorilla-robot body for his
best friend and sidekick, Minion. He chose his own name and chose his life path
of evil while he was a little boy studying at the 'Lil’ School for the Lil’
Gifted' with Metro Man.
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HERO
HUNT: Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Minion (David Cross) find
their new superhero in the film Megamind.
Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures.
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Megamind references Dr. Frankenstein in Frankenstein when
he decides to make someone into a hero, but instead ‘creates a monster’. Just
like Dr Frankenstein, Megamind eventually sets out to destroy his creation. He
also plays a mentor to his ‘creation’ Titan (misspelt as ‘Tighten’ by Hal) like
Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) in The Karate Kid,
and puts on a good Marlon Brando impersonation from The Godfather, while disguised as Hal’s Space Dad.
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MIXED
MEDIA: Hal (Joanh Hill) and Roxanne (Tina Fey) are polar
opposites working as a reporting team in the film Megamind. Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures.
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Rising star Jonah Hill (Get Him To The Greek, Moneyball)
is the voice of video game geek and Roxanne’s hapless cameraman, Hal, who is
secretly in love with her. This name references the malfunctioning and
malicious computer HAL in sci-fi classic 2001:
A Space Odyssey, and milked even further in Megamind, when Hal appears in shirts with computer-related messages
such as “Error 404 request not found” or “Game Over”. Hill looks and sounds
like the unassuming and everyday person and this translates well into Hal’s
characterisations and appearance in the film.
Star and writer of multi- award winning television series
30 Rock, Tina Fey’s (Baby Mamma, Date Night) vocal qualities are perfectly suited to bring out the
tenacity and intelligence in the feisty Roxanne. Fey also brings some romance
and rivalry into the story, adding a feminine presence alongside the male-dominated
cast of characters.
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SHARED
SHOCK: Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Roxanne (Tina Fey) are in
disbelief to discover Metro Man's secret in the film Megamind. Image: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures.
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Brad Pitt is well cast as the voice of Metro City’s hero
and idol, Metro Man, bringing sexiness, courage and benevolence to the
character. ‘Metro Man’ is the name given to him by the citizens of Metro City,
unlike Megamind who was able to choose his own name. Metro Man is a
neo-Superman, who can fly, has heat ray vision, super-human strength, super sonic
speed et cetera. Along with the name and responsibilities of upholding justice
and keeping evil at bay, Metro Man feels exhausted and tired of doing things
for others 24 hours a day and never having to do what he likes. Metro Man makes
an impromptu choice during a battle against Megamind, to rid himself of all
responsibilities and ties as the saviour and super-hero of Metro City. This
choice causes Megamind’s evil plan to backfire and forces him to seek another super-hero
to replace Metro Man.
Every super-villain needs a partner and Minion is the
best friend and super-sidekick of Megamind. David Cross (Alvin and the Chipmunks : The Squeakquel, Kung Fu Panda 2) does a superb job of voicing the hilarious,
patient and super-intelligent piranha-in-a-bowl, who Megamind calls a
“fantastic fish”. Although Megamind is the inventor of the bizarre and hi-tech
gadgetry in the film, it is Minion who provides the ideas and inspiration for
Megamind’s plans. However, some of Minion’s ideas for weapons always need a
minute to “warm up” which frustrates Megamind and stalls some of his best-laid
plans.
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Promotional poster artwork for the animated comedy
action film Megamind.
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The film’s soundtrack includes rock and pop music from
Michael Jackson, Guns N Roses, ACDC, George Thorogood and the Destroyers and
Minnie Riperton, as well as wonderful ambient and incidental music by Hans
Zimmer and Lorne Balfe.
Megamind
is
funny, fast-paced and action-packed with some serious themes and complex
concepts not presented in other recent animated films such as Despicable Me or How To Train Your Dragon. Megamind
appeals to a diverse audience where children will enjoy the good versus evil
action sequences, while the adults may reflect on the concepts of life’s paths/destiny/purpose/choices.
Megamind is not as emotionally
manipulating as Toy Story 3 but more
attention-grabbing than Despicable Me.
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Promotional poster artwork for the animated comedy
action film Megamind.
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Director: Tom
McGrath
Writers:
Alan J. Schoolcraft (story), Brent Simons (story)
Voice
Cast: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, David Cross, Jonah Hill, Brad
Pitt, Ben Stiller, J.K. Simmons, Justin Theroux, Jessica Schulte, Tom McGrath,
Emily Nordwind, Brian Hopkins, Christopher Knights, Stephen Kearin, Ella Olivia
Stiller, Quinn Dempsey Stiller, Mike Mitchell, Jack Blessing, Jasper Johannes
Andrews
Producers:
Holly Edwards, Stuart Cornfeld, Ben Stiller, Denise Nolan Cascino, Lara Breay
Creative
Consultants: Justin Theroux, Guillermo del Toro
Original
Music Composer: Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe
Film
Editor: Michael Andrews
Production
Designer: David James
Running
Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
