REVIEW: ‘Megamind’ is evil fun — most of the time

The people at DreamWorks spoofed the fairy-tale world in the “Shrek” films and now, with “Megamind,” they take their animated sense of parody into the superhero sector. Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey said the result is a satisying film that flies along with just a few bumps.

"Megamind" (DreamWorks)

A big blue head and an even bigger ego seem to suit Will Ferrell, who gives voice to the villainous star of the amusing new 3-D animated comedy “Megamind.” DreamWorks‘ latest pop-culture manifesto is out to skewer celebrity, the cult of superhero fandom, media feeding frenzies and to suggest that perhaps what you really need to save the day is not a cape, but the love of a good woman.

The story takes the Superman mythology and then fractures it considerably. It begins for our two central characters, Megamind and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) as it did for the legendary Clark Kent — dying planet, popped in a pod as a baby, landing on Earth, adopted by kind strangers. Luck is not with the blue boy, who lands at Metro City prison, where the inmates take him in; for Metro Man it’s a nice house in the suburbs with a mom, a dad and all the amenities. How could they not grow up to be rivals?

But the larger question the filmmakers are soon onto is what happens to the bad guy when the good guy is out of the picture. What is the price of media adulation? Why do we always expect someone else to solve our problems? Well, it’s complicated but so au courant.

Without going all biblical on you, apparently evil doesn’t work so well without good, and, gulp, vice versa, and most of the film unfolds around Megamind trying to resolve that issue. It’s a case of being careful what you wish for. The problem for our charming villain, besides his secret crush on Roxanne (Tina Fey), is that as soon as he discovers that copper is Metro Man’s kryptonite, poof (imagine an extended action scene here with lots of things, including L.A.’s iconic Griffith Observatory going up in flames), the good guy is gone and life is anything but what he expected…

THERE’S MORE, READ THE REST

– Betsy Sharkey

RECENT AND RELATED

Ferrell: Megamind inspired by James Lipton

Ferrell: Hollywood may wear out masked-man films

“X-Men” director: Hollywood is killing superhero genre

Watch the trailer for “Megamind”

“Beauty and the Beast” cast and creators look back

Disney wrings the pink out of “Rapunzel”

REVIEW: “Shrek 4″ a perfect marriage of animation and 3-D

“How to Train Your Dragon” was fire-tested

Spielberg on “Tintin” tech: “It made me  more like a painter”