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- DirectorTom McGrathStarsWill FerrellJonah HillBrad PittEvil genius Megamind finally defeats his do-gooder nemesis, Metro Man, but is left without a purpose in a superhero-free world.Simply the best movie ever made, and I've been a lifelong Disney girl, but Dreamworks stole my heart with this one. It's mostly because of Will Ferrell & Tina Fey, who are just brilliant in this. Their chemistry was always obvious on SNL and shines through here clearly since Jeffery Katzenberg had the good sense to put them in the booth together whenever their characters were in the same scene. I had no clue 'til this movie that Ferrell could ACT. I thought he was just a free traveling peep show who managed to be funny.
Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will identify with the sweet blue alien boy who is mistreated from day one just because of the color of his skin and his large cranium. His rival, a spoiled brat guitar douche bully (both were sent here in small spacecraft to escape the destruction of their planets which were being sucked into a black hole), has the fortune of looking more like a Caucasian Earthling at first glance, however I think that being able to FLY and shoot LASERS from his eyes is a lot more alien than blue skin and super intelligence. Metro Man, as the bully dubs himself, basically makes a career out of his domination of the physically weaker boy, who takes it for a while until he decides "If I'm the bad boy, I'm going to be the baddest boy of them ALL."
But most people, particularly those closest to him, see that while he is mischievous, he is far from evil. He's never hurt anyone, and if anything the destruction of buildings caused by their battles just means lots of work for construction crews.
His best friend/henchman is Minion, a cute little space piranha who lives in a dome atop a large gorilla robot suit, played by David Cross. The two interact like a comedy duo, but have a deep friendship, more like bond brothers. I would consider Minion to be Megamind's greatest super-power.
Tina Fey plays Roxanne Ritchi, a sassy and bright reporter who admittedly makes good use of her considerable assets to get the attention of the "hero" and further her career. Everyone, including Megamind, assumes the two are an item. Spoiler alert; we find out later this isn't true, but she and Metro Man allow people to think what they like, in her case it's because she finds Megamind interesting (though hasn't admitted that to herself fully yet) and I suspect in Metro Man's case it's because chicks aren't his bag. I think he's having a secret thing with the man in the crowd at the dedication of the Metro Man museum, the one who yells out in a voice too high with excitement "I LOVE YOU METRO MAN!" to which the hero replies "And I love YOU, random citizen!" Those of us in the fan fic writing community enjoy putting him together with Bernard, the curator of the museum, perhaps his usual flat drawl becomes a high-strung yelp when he's in love and he's the "random citizen."
Metro Man isn't happy though, he's bored. And since he's a selfish jerk, he decides it would be perfectly acceptable to fake his death, pinning it on Megamind and holing up in his underground hideout to practice guitar and write lousy lyrics. Megamind is floored. He never really meant to kill his rival, and finds himself without purpose. Fate steps in and gives him a way to get closer to his heart's desire when he and Roxanne show up at the museum to mourn the lost hero. To avoid being seen there by her, he scans the image of the dull curator Bernard and then dehydrates the man, taking his place. Roxanne inexplicably finds herself drawn to him, and the two click, their minds meshing in creative synchronicity, inspiring Megamind to use DNA from the hero's cape to create a new hero.
During a scene where Roxanne finds his evil lair (which is an absolute laugh riot no matter how many times you see it) the DNA is accidentally placed in the worst possible host: Roxanne's oafish cameraman, Hal, played skillfully by Jonah Hill. He is crude & boorish and has the hots for Roxanne. Megamind is unaware of this though, and proceeds to try to turn him into the new hero. Eventually he finds out this man does not have the moral fiber to be a hero, when he tries to goad him into battle after finding out the only reason the lummox took the gig was to get Roxanne and instead succeeds in making him dangerously angry.
Megamind implores Roxanne, who is ticked at him after finding out on their date who he really is when she unwittingly turns off his disguise, to help him defeat Titan (the only name he could trademark for the new hero) by taking him to Metro Man's hideout, hoping to find a weakness or some clue that will spell Titan's downfall. They find the old hero lounging in a robe with a scruffy beard and he's forced to come clean about his demise. They ask him to help and he refuses, saying he's done. Then he seems to indicate that Megamind should be the one to be a hero now, which confuses Megamind and the whole thing has him questioning himself for the first time in his life. Despite the fact that Roxanne now seems to be on his side and wants to work together, he has lost faith in himself and goes back to jail, the only "home" he's ever known. Roxanne decides to go talk with Hal, try to talk him out of destroying the city. I think she was making a calculated gamble, knowing that if she were kidnapped by Titan and a challenge was issued to him, the blue alien would leap to her rescue, which he does. The way he defeats Titan is so smart, often you can see plot points coming from a mile away in films, but not here. It's so amazingly clever I'm going to leave it for you to experience. Suffice it to say Megamind beats the bad guy, becomes the city's new defender, and even gets the girl.
Do yourself a favor. Buy a copy, don't rent it. You will want to watch it multiple times to catch all the subtle little details and depth.