Megamind (2010) - A Witty, Amusing One-Joke Comedy

Megamind: What if A Superhero had an Evil Twin? Or Wait, What If... He Were Ugly? Or No, What If He Walked With a Limp And Needed A Guide Dog? No, I Got A Better One....

The animated films were coming fast and furious in 2010. "Toy Story 3" came out and made a billion dollars, "Shrek Forever After" made $750 million, "Tangled" made $600 million... and then there was "Megamind" (2010), a 3D animated superhero parody directed by Tom McGrath from a script by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons for DreamWorks Animation. It didn't bomb, but it vastly under-performed. Big Chief Jeffrey Katzenberg couldn't come out fast enough to say that it wasn't going to get a sequel because its "approach and tone and idea of parody" did not play well overseas. It is not a bad film, in fact it is quite enjoyable, but it has a wise-guy sensibility that requires a certain jaded mindset to appreciate fully - or internationally.

DVD

Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) both arrived on earth as infants. When they grew up, Metro Man took the path of virtue, while Megamind became evil. Despite constant battles between the two which Metro Man routinely wins, there remains rough parity between them, a situation which Megamind is determined to change to his advantage.

Give me five, bro!

One of Megamind's schemes to destroy his nemesis has him and his sidekick Minion (David Cross) kidnap local reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey). Using her as bait, he hopes to lure Metro Man into a trap, which is successful. Using a death ray, he kills Metro Man.

Roxanne is played by Tina Fey

Next on his agenda is to destroy the Metro Man museum, but as he goes about it, he suddenly realizes he misses not having someone to worry about. He gets the idea from Roxanne to inject someone else with Metro Man's DNA so that he has a worthy opponent again. Through an accident, Megamind injects the serum into Roxanne's cameraman, Hal (Jonah Hill). After some training in disguise by Megamind, Hal is so clueless that he mistakenly takes the name "Tighten" rather than the "Titan" Megamind suggests.

Megamind hands outstretched

Both men develop a romantic interest in Roxanne, but eventually, with nobody left to fight, Megamind loses his real relationship when Minion leaves him. Wishing to get Roxanne all to himself, Megamind looks for the serum that would return Hal to his non-superhero state, but he can't find it - it's in his invisible car which is, you know, invisible. At first it looks like another continuing battle for Megamind, but it turns out that Hal doesn't want to fight for good, he'd rather be a villain like Megamind. This horrifies Megamind, so to change his mind he reveals everything to Hal, who gets upset and fights Megamind. Unfortunately for Megamind, Hal wins and chases Megamind out of Metro City. Hal then starts doing villainous things, usurping Megamind's entire identity.

Hal is quite annoying

Roxanne doesn't like the new turn of events either, so she takes Megamind to the late Metro Man's secret lair. To their surprise, Metro Man is there, alive and well. Rather than being killed, Metro Man wanted to retire and become a musician, so he just pretended to be killed. He still has his powers, but has no more interest in fighting Hal or anyone else. He'd rather be a dilettante and play the guitar.

Megamind and Roxanne

Megamind despairs, but rather than fight Hal on the side of virtue as Roxanne suggests, he turns himself into prison. Hal, though, wants a villain to oppose, and kidnaps Roxanne and threatens to kill her if Megamind doesn't become his adversary again. Megamind decides to fight to save Roxanne, and he gets Minion back to help out. A fight ensues, and the fate of Metro City hangs in the balance.

Megamind as a baby

This plot probably looked terrific on paper, and the execution is terrific, but "Megamind" plays out its one-joke premise without any surprises. If you simply think about the initial idea "a villain needs an adversary to be villainous," the rest of the story just plays out almost automatically. The writers probably congratulated themselves during production on such an innovative twist on the superhero genre that had never been tried before, but it hasn't been done before for a reason: it's silly. Not to be mean, but your average high school comics book fan could have come up with this story line without too much trouble. What if Superman wasn't predestined to be a good guy? What if he had a twin? What if he were actually a little more like everyone else and had his own interests (does Superman even know what a hobby is?). How does Superman know he's supposed to be good, and is there some requirement for him to display that goodness? You can almost hear the gears whirring away in the screenwriters' heads: "This vision of a perfect guy without some flaw we can look down upon and feel pity for, it's so, like, 20th Century." It's another chip at ("deconstruction of") the question of whether those types of people that we automatically used to look up to are still worthy of respect (the answer invariably being no, because we no longer automatically respect any entire group). If those are the sorts of comic-book-geek questions or social attitudes that delight you, well, this film will astound and delight, otherwise, it likely won't - the latter seeming to be the general consensus. The chain of though I just described is why there will be a high likelikhood that you will say/think something along the lines of, "Will Ferrell was okay, but the story was kind of stupid" after you watch "Megamind."

"I'm so evil muahahahaha"

Another issue for many veiwers is that the film strongly resembles "Despicable Me," which came out earlier the same year and made almost twice as much money. There are unavoidable parallels with Pixar's "The Incredibles" as well. As Jeffrey Katzenberg himself helpfully pointed out, it resembles earlier DreamWorks misfires "Shark Tale" and "Monsters vs. Aliens," which also attempted to de-mystify the creaking plots and hoary cliches of the animation/superhero genres. There is nothing wrong with that intelllectually, but the conventions and cliches exist for a reason: people are comfortable with them and like them, and they become annoyed if you criticize them.

"I better switch that monitor off before she sees what I was looking at!

The good versus evil paradigm of every successful superhero film works because people want to put themselves in the shoes of the "good guy" and imagine themselves defeating the annoying "bad guys" who are always around in real life. When you fog up the whole question with abstract philosophical points about "what does it mean to be a villain, can the dialectic continue without an opposing value" and tripe like that, people lose patience. Philosophy class is one thing, a good swinging superhero is something completely different.

"Here I come, to save the day"

The film certainly is enjoyable if you want to settle in and watch the puerile plot twists. The 3-D images have a stark clarity that makes the characters stand out. Advances in the art leave old-school techniques in the dust unless you are looking for a distinctive style and a point of view - both of which "Megamind" lacks because it doesn't aim for them. If you are a true fan of animation and compare, say, "Sleeping Beauty" to "Megamind," you will be awed by the flash and sizzle of the images in "Megamind" - and probably wind up watching "Beauty" first because of its human artistry and the soul that breathes in every frame. Computers are wonderful at making images appear startling to the eye, but the mind hungers for a unique and slanted perspective on the world, not a neutral computer recreation.

The three principals

The voice cast couldn't be better. Will Ferrell is brilliant as always, playing his usual flawed-but-lovable good guy who is only imperfect because that is how he was made. His character is as three-dimensional as the animation, and you grow to care for him as your pity for his predicament grows. Brad Pitt is fine also, though he has a much smaller role that does not have enough time to grow on us. Tina Fey plays Tina Fey, with the knowing attitude and the raw intelligence which she goes to great pains to pretend to hide but purposefully doesn't, which only emphasizes it all the more in a very clever back-handed fashion. David Cross plays the usual smarter-than-his-boss sidekick that is a staple of animated films going at least back to Napoleon and Lafayette in "The Aristocats" and King John and Sir Hiss in "Robin Hood." The music by old pro Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe is competent, but nothing you likely will be whistling on the way home.

"Oh, so you like music, how interesting"

Will this pass the time, make you laugh, reach into your heart at times and tug at it whenever Will Farrell becomes frustrated with the conundrums of a superhero's life? Sure, "Megamind" is funny and sharp and clever and well-executed. However, it remains a one-joke premise about a bad guy being pointless without a good guy and vice versa, so your mind may wander after a while. Oh, and make sure you see it in 3D, the film really requires it for the full experience.

Below is the official trailer:

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Puss in Boots (2011) - Enjoy an Evening with an Old Friend

Puss in Boots: Coolest Cat Ever

Fans of the "Shrek" series know that the addition of the Puss in Boots character in Shrek 2 completed the lovably squabbling triumvirate of Shrek, the Donkey and Puss in Boots. Puss In Boots has been a fan favorite since his first appearance in "Shrek 2," and many people all along wanted Puss to get his own movie. DreamWorks Animation listened, and here it is, "Puss in Boots" (2011). Though "Puss In Boots" originally was planned to be released direct to DVD, enough publicity was stirred up about "Puss In Boots" for the studio to release "Puss In Boots" theatrically instead. Was it worth the fans' wait? Most definitely.

Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) is a talking cat who wears boots of "soft, Corinthian leather" (there is no such thing, but that's a direct homage to Ricardo Montalban's old car commercials). Puss in Boots is a suave bandit, running from the law and determined to clear his name. First things first, though: Puss In Boots finds out about a couple, Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris), who have magic beans that will get him into a castle full of treasure. Since Puss In Boots has been hunting the treasure for years, he becomes very interested. Puss In Boots tries to steal the beans, but is foiled by the unexpected appearance of Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), a friend of Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), who happens to be an old friend of Puss in Boots.  Humpty and Kitty also want the treasure.

Puss joins Humpty and Kitty and they steal the beans, planting them in the desert where they can grow to their full size. Puss, being a great lover, seduces Kitty, then they climb the beanstalk to the treasure castle. Rather than steal the eggs themselves, though, which are heavy, they kidnap the Golden Goose who lays them. Once they climb down the beanstalk, though, Jack and Jill surprise them and steal the goose.

Puss chases Jack and Jill to his old home town, where he is captured by the police. The whole affair turned out to be a revenge plot by Humpty to get revenge for a childhood slight. In prison, Puss meets Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, who tells him that the goose's mother - known as "The Great Terror" - will stop at nothing to get her child back.

Kitty helps Puss break out of jail and takes him to see Humpty, who knows all about the Great Terror. After some discussion about what they all really want, they set a trap for it.  They use the goose as bait, and a great battle ensues.

Directed by Chris Miller, who previously directed "Shrek the Third," this follows in the tradition of the Shrek series despite the fact that Shrek and the others don't actually appear. The film has a lot of wit and charm, and it simply is a fun film. These days, it seems as if everyone is adapting classic fairy tales for their own purposes (such as ABC's "Once Upon a Time"), and this is yet another take on those childhood stories. It may be a bit predictable, but we get Puss's famous "cute look," and Banderas is very smooth, like Puss's boots.

The 3D animation is great, but it really isn't needed. If you are looking for something that will knock your socks off, this isn't it. If, on the other hand, you just want to re-visit an old friend and perhaps make a few new ones, this is a great chance to do that. Unlike "Shrek," this film seems to be set in a Spanish or Mexican desert and hits all sorts of Latin archetypes. This gives it a much different feel and helps differentiate this from the "Shrek" films.

This film sets the stage for further adventures, with a new triumvirate of Puss, Humpty Dumpty, and Kitty, but this film is enough by itself. As of now, there are no plans for further films (though a short, "Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos" was released in 2012).  Another one seems inevitable at some point because this film did a whole lot of business, especially overseas. Here's a cat who's both a lover and a fighter, and fans of "Shrek" should not be unhappy at all. I just wish they could have come up with a more original script.

2012

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Up (2009) - An Honored Gem that is Tops with Kids

Up: Look, Up in the Sky, It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's... Old Man Carl Fredricksen in His Flying House!

Pixar did it again with "Up" (2009). Most people who have seen it love this film. Ed Asner plays - what else - a gruff old man named Carl Fredricksen. Unintentionally, he befriends a boy named Russell (Jordan Nagai). Together, they take on the world in grand style. Isn't that the perfect set-up for an animated film? And it is Pixar's first film in 3D! What else could you want? You will find yourself loving this film if you are into animation.

Kids can be so annoying!

Well, maybe and maybe not, but an awful lot of people liked this film. It grossed the standard $700 million plus, and won a couple of Oscars (Michael Giacchino for music and Best Animated feature). Not too shabby. Veterans Pete Docter and Bob Peterson directed. It begins with a stunning montage of a marriage, from first love to tragic goodbye. There is more emotion packed into that opening sequence than in most live action films. What follows shows a motley crew of adventurers who let nothing stand in their way.

Carl never gets too excited

Carl wants to meet his long-time hero, Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who is reputed to be lost in a jungle far away. The defining characteristic of this movie, though, is that people and animals are not what they seem at first glance. There are all sorts of sight gags of menacing beasts turning out to be something different, and an awkward bird that becomes sympathetic. Great character development, especially for kids.

Long shot of house taking off

This was Pixar's second feature to get a PG rating, for some relatively violent imagery and deeds. Obviously, for a kid's flick, there is no sex or anything like that.

In the jungle

Carl, it turns out, had a love named Ellie (Ellie Docter). They had a dream, just like so many young people. Unfortunately, they never realize it together. After Ellie is long gone, Carl decides to fulfill their joint dream alone. However, a tragedy intervenes, and it appears that the dream will never be realized after all.

On the porch of the flying house

But Carl has a plan. You have to have a plan in life. And boy is it a good plan. He's not going to stick around to be incarcerated. Gotta watch out for those old dudes, right?

Kind of makes you think of King Kong

It turns out that someone else has horned in on his escape, though. That is the young boy, Russell. Instead of Ellie, it turns out to be Russell who joins with old Carl to accomplish their age-old dream. The film is loaded with nods to Disney veterans and metaphors whose meaning isn't always clear at first glance. There are dogs in a "dogfight" at the end, calling out to each other with "Star Wars" code names. If you pay attention, there are all sorts of sly bits to enjoy.

Strange birds

There are some who would say that the story is trite and awkward, and that the ending is a bit odd, even for a kid's animation film. Obviously, a lot of people disagree, and on most public boards, they will be shouted down. This was one of Pixar's most profitable films, for what that's worth. Little children certainly shouldn't have any problems with such issues, nor many older ones, but opinions on animation films that have new themes can differ wildly. Adult viewers, should at least be able to enjoy a love story among all the weird creatures and tragedy.

Enjoy the trailer below!

2012

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