By: Oberst von Berauscht (3 Beers)
A Toast
I said in my review of Secretariat that familiarity breeds contempt. And that is certainly true in many cases. With Megamind for instance, it is easy to dismiss it as feeling a little too much like Despicable Me. If Megamind was any lesser of a film, I would be only too glad to rip DreamWorks a new one. With knowledge that CGI animated films take years from concept to wrap-party and with the presence of some truly original themes and ideas, I hereby absolve this film of the sin of “cashing in on a competitor’s success”.
Megamind’s greatest strength is in fact a weakness of its cousin. Whereas Despicable Me presented a supervillain who learns his lesson about being evil by learning to love, for no reason other than he meets three sickeningly cute children, this film argues the intriguing point that good and evil need each other to keep balance. Agree with this or not, it makes you think. Who’d have thought you could wax philosophical about a movie featuring Will Ferrell, much less one that features a fish bowl robot voiced by David Cross?
Jonah Hill also deserves some kudos for convincingly moving that same trademark character he is known for into increasingly creepy stalker territory. Potential Zach moments abound with his “you gonna get raped” approach. Also, is it strange that I find cartoon Tina Fey sexier than real Tina Fey?
Too much beer maybe?
Beer Two
Not that the movie is perfect, Will Ferrell is as uneven as ever. Some of his quips are amusing and others fall flat. You’ll find yourself going for minutes without laughing. (Will, you cannot do Marlon Brando, not even a hilariously bad Marlon Brando). But when the jokes hit, they are generally very good.
Beer Three
The last beer goes to the film’s overuse of popular hard rock songs, especially in a year where AC/DC was so heavily used in Iron Man 2. Not only is AC/DC used, but some of the same songs that appeared in Iron Man 2 are here.
Quentin Tarantino once said that if a song is used really well once in a movie, any other film that uses the song will just feel like a poser. I tend to agree with this, though I am not dogmatic about it (and neither is he really). Once more: and why do movies like this need a dance party at the end? Where is it written that animated comedies must end this way? DreamWorks in particular is to blame for this.
Verdict:
Worth zapping it with your shrink-ray, kidnapping its girlfriend, and locking them both in Fort Knox.
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