"Megamind" Movie Trailer Review

"Megamind"

Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

Dreamworks Animation has always been a few large steps behind Pixar when it comes to originality or creativity-- Pixar made "A Bug's Life," Dreamworks made "Antz." Pixar made "Finding Nemo," Dreamworks made "Shark Tale." And I don't expect many would argue that "Wall-E" and "Up" aren't on an entirely different level than "Madagascar" or any of the recent "Shrek" sequels. Dreamworks did rather well with "How to Train Your Dragon," and now they appear to be going back to their Pixar aping with "Megamind," a part-"Incredibles" part-"Superman" take on superheroes and supervillains.

The film concerns a villain named Megamind, who shares the same fate as his arch-nemesis MetroMan--both were born at the same time, as their planet was being destroyed, and both were sent to Earth. Megamind chose a life of crime and MetroMan, obviously, chose one of heroism. But Megamind acts as the protagonist of the film.

It's an intriguing concept, albeit not necessarily an original one, but based on the most recent trailer, the execution seems to be rather sloppy and immature, by typical Dreamworks standards, sacrificing strong writing to focus on cheap laughs and pop culture references. I don't know why, but Pixar has always seemed to balance both while Dreamworks hasn't quite found that balance yet. Either way, this film doesn't seem to be anything new.

Still, there's some strong talent involved, with Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt taking on the roles of Megamind and MetroMan respectively, as well as Jonah Hill and Tina Fey in supporting roles. Tom McGrath, who directed both "Madagascar" films, is at the helm, so there's not much to hope for there, but I won't presume to know how McGrath will fare with such different material.

"Megamind" has potential with such a strong premise, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

"Megamind" will be released November 5, 2010. Trailer is below. Thoughts?