Megamind

Megamind - "Dante's Peak," "Volcano." "Deep Impact," "Armageddon." "Fail Safe," "Dr. Strangelove." Movies with similar themes that were in production at the same time and released only months apart. In July, "Despicable Me" told the story of a long time criminal mastermind who discovers he has a heart and tries to do something good. Now "Megamind" is here. It tells the story of a long time criminal mastermind who discovers he has a heart and tries to do something good. In terms of the specifics of the stories they are different enough that you probably won't find yourself thinking about "Despicable Me" while watching "Megamind." But you won't laugh nearly as much either.
Just like Jor-El in "Superman," a baby was sent to Earth in an escape pod just as his home planet was being destroyed. When he arrived he was upright, truthful, and more powerful than any human. When he grew up he became Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt), the saviour of Metro City. Unlike Jor-El/Clark Kent however, Metro Man had a companion come to Earth in another pod. He was a little blue baby who had the misfortune of crash landing into a prison yard. As a result his concepts of right and wrong ended up a little bit backwards. Naturally when he grew up the blue man, calling himself Megamind (Will Ferrell), became Metro Man's sworn enemy.
While the always victorious Metro Man is being honored with his own museum, Megamind kidnaps Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) and promises certain doom to "Metrocity." Metro Man arrives on the scene to save the day but much to the surprise of everyone in Metro City (including Megamind), Megamind defeats and kills Metro Man. The city now belongs to the supervillain. Now he just needs to figure out what to do with it.
Directed by Tom McGrath ("Madagascar") and written by Alan J. Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, "Megamind's" premise is much funnier than its execution. It's not that the film is bad or the jokes fall flat, it's that they just don't land as well as they should. The idea of a victorious supervillain being bored with the day to day operations of ruling his city is inspired but it just wasn't explored to its fullest potential. Megamind's transformation into a decent person who falls in love with Roxanne comes off well and it might be the movie's best element."Megamind" is not a failure but it's not a real success either. In a year that has given us three wonderful animated movies from three different studios ("Toy Story 3," "Despicable Me," and "How to Train Your Dragon"), this one doesn't stand as tall as I'd hoped. 6/10.