32) MEGAMIND

Director: Tom McGrath
Stars: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, David Cross, Ben Stiller
Year: 2010
Rating: PG

Much like Despicable Me (another beautifully-animated film I quite liked), Megamind has a premise that finds with a supervillain who finds himself suddenly at odds with his chosen profession. Opening in Metro City on a beautiful spring day, we find Megamind (Will Ferrell) once again kidnapping ace TV news reporter Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey) - girlfriend to MetroMan (Brad Pitt), Metro City's protector and superhero - and has defied his arch enemy to find and rescue her.

As the opening scene progresses, we realize that Megamind, coming from another world and sent here by his parents (Superman-style) just as their planet was being destroyed, has - since childhood - become a supervillain after having his childhood overshadowed by the young MetroMan. The child Megamind turned to evil to get attention, and we viewers learn pretty quickly that this playing out of kidnapping-Roxanne-to-try-and-lure-MetroMan-to-his-death-thing has been going on for some time.

Only something goes horribly wrong (or horribly right, depending on your viewpoint), and Megamind actually KILLS MetroMan this time out - putting Metro City at his mercy, at last. Needless to say, at first Megamind - along with his sidekick Minion (David Cross) - is uber-thrilled with the results, and trashes Metro City from end to end, stealing money and the world's most prized artwork for himself. But after weeks of pillaging and ruling with an iron hand, Megamind realizes he's just plain bored; that the best part of being a supervillain was, indeed, having a superhero to fight! So using his mega-mind, Megamind decides to find a local goofball and turn HIM into a superhero, just to give him someone to try and destroy.

But in that super-boob, Megamind chooses Roxanne's dork of a cameraman, Hal (Jonah Hill) turning him into the all-powerful, almight Tighten ... and learns pretty quickly that Tighten is anything BUT a superhero. In fact, Tighten may make Megamind's reign look like The Sound of Music by comparison.

Further complicating things, Megamind - through a series of bizarre circumstances I don't want to divulge here - starts to find himself falling in love ... with none other than Roxanne Ritchie. But what's a supervillain to do when battling another supervillain? And does that make HIM, suddenly, a superhero?

Mixing a terrific blend of humor, dazzling animation, and high-flying action sequences, Megamind at heart remains a story OF the heart. Funny and endearing, even if the ending is a bit corny it all works - in a sweet film both kids and adults can enjoy. Really charming, and well worth seeing. **** - Reel Awesome