Ebert reviews Megamind (with a small but telling error)

As a Galactic Overlord myself, I've been looking forward to this since I
first heard about it.

(See if you can identify the error. I actually don't know what the error
means, however, one sympathizes, being one whose brain says to type one
thing and my traitorous fingers type any damn thing they want...)

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101103/REVIEWS/101109990


  "Megamind" was the third 3-D movie I'd seen in a row, and as I struggled
to free my glasses from their industrial-strength plastic envelope, I wasn't
precisely looking forward to it. Why do 3-D glasses come so securely wrapped
they seem like acts of hostility against the consumer? Once I freed my
glasses and settled down, however, I was pleased to see a 3-D image that was
quite acceptable. Too dim, as always, but the process was well-used and
proves again that animation is incomparably more suited for 3-D than live
action is.

I'd just been rewatching
"Superman<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Superman&ToDate=20101231>"
(1978) and felt right at home with the opening of "Megamind," narrated by a
bright blue alien over flashbacks to his infancy. Born on a distant planet,
he's packed into a rocket ship and blasted off to Earth, just like the Man
of Steel. En route, he meets his lifetime nemesis, a golden child who lands
on Earth and in the lap of wealth. The blue child, alas, lands in a prison
and is raised by hardened convicts.

As they grow up, these two super-beings are destined to play crucial roles
in nearby Metro City, where they're named Megamind (voice of Will
Ferrell<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Will%20Ferrell&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>)
and Metro Man (Brad
Pitt<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Brad%20Pitt&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>).
We may remember that Superman was given his name by Lois Lane, and here the
story of the two superbeings is covered by a TV reporter named Roxanne
Ritchi (Tina Fey). Roxanne's cameraman, Hal (Jonah
Hill<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Jonah%20Hill&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>,
looking rather Jonah
Hill<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Jonah%20Hill&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>-like),
later morphs into yet a third super-being named Titan.

This set-up is bright and amusing, even if it does feel recycled from bits
and pieces of such recent animated landmarks as "The Invincibles" with its
superpowers and "Despicable Me" with its villain. "Megamind" even goes so
far as naming Megamind's fishy sidekick "Minion" (David
Cross<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=David%20Cross&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>),
a nod to the Minions who serve the despicable Gru. I enjoyed Megamind's
conclusion, after being bullied as a child, that if he can't get credit for
doing anything good, he might as well become a villain.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hero requires a villain, and
"Megamind" has some fun by depriving Megamind of Metro Man. Left without an
opponent, he loses his zeal for evildoing, and actually clones Titan to cure
his loneliness. All of this of course is accomplished with much slapstick
and sensational action, in a population which consists entirely of
super-beings, plus Roxanne, the prison warden and cheering thousands of
anonymous humans.

Tina Fey does a spirited job with Roxanne, and again I was reminded of "
Superman<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=REVIEWS01&TITLESearch=Superman&ToDate=20101231>"
and Margot Kidder<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Margot%20Kidder&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>'s
high-spirited, unafraid Lois Lane. This time Roxanne isn't smitten by
anyone, which is just as well because these guys are aliens, after all.

"Megamind" is an amusing family entertainment and gains some energy from
clever dialogue and the fun Will
Ferrell<http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/classifieds?category=search1&SearchType=1&q=Will%20Ferrell&Class=%25&FromDate=19150101&ToDate=20101231>has
with his character. I like the way he pronounces "Metro City" like
"metricity," for example. The 3-D is well done, if unnecessary. Nothing in
the movie really benefits from it, and if you can find it in 2-D, that's the
best choice. Save the surcharge and see those colors nice and bright.


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |

(Hint: The error is in the 4th paragraph.)

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