Megamind is a satiric take on the Superman mythos, seen through the eyes of a supervillain who’s part Lex Luthor, part Brainiac. Instead of a rocket ship bearing an infant survivor from a doomed planet to Earth, there are two ships from two planets. Fate deals the infant survivors very different hands: One is a superpowered golden boy who grows up privileged and smugly superior; the other grows up on the fringes of society, an outcast with one asset: his superbrain. It seems the two are destined to battle each other forever, or are they?
The Superman mythos is dominated by the initials L.L. (Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lightning Lad, etc.). Megamind turns to the next letter in the alphabet, although the pattern extends only to the spit-curled hero, Metro Man (Brad Pitt), and his evil archnemesis, Megamind (Will Ferrell). Why is Tina Fey’s spunky gal reporter named Roxanne Ritchi rather than Mia Madsen? Then again, considering the level of confusion I’m already suffering from the antagonists names, I keep thinking the hero’s name is Mega Man; perhaps it’s just as well there aren’t more M.M.s. Megamind’s sidekick is called Minion, and they live in Metro City, but those only have one “M” apiece.
Throughout history, flamboyant bad guys from the Wicked Witch of the West to the Joker and Darth Vader have threatened to upstage less colorful good guys. Recently, animated family films have turned the spotlight directly on the bad guys, most recently Universal’s charming Despicable Me. Megamind is from DreamWorks, which has been on a roll lately with How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda. Some would extend the roll to Monsters vs. Aliens, another role-reversing film, but one I found mean-spirited and subversive. Megamind is kind of subversive too, but it’s not mean-spirited, and I find it enjoyable in a way that I don’t Monsters vs. Aliens.
On the one hand, Megamind offers a jaundiced look at a Superman figure who embodies all of the invincible sanctimoniousness that Batman partisans have always claimed for the Man of Steel. A lantern-jawed clown, Metro Man is a shallow supercelebrity with no self-doubt or self-awareness, a parody of muscle-bound perfection who literally walks on water and takes his godlike status for granted. Later on, (the tell-all trailers shamelessly give it all away, but I won’t spoil it here) there are revelations about another side of Metro Man, but it doesn’t exactly humanize him, at least in a good way.
And yet, even in this deconstructed form, the Superman archetype remains potent enough that when Metro Man drops out of the picture his absence leaves an existential void not only for Roxanne Ritchi, but even for Megamind himself. Standing in the newly opened Metro Man Museum before a titanic statue of the Man himself, the supervillain and the reporter struggle to make sense of a world without iconic goodness. The departure of Metro Man dimly echoes the death of God in the 1960s. Even Megamind recognizes that evil exists only in relation to goodness, though the way he goes about trying to act on this insight is the sort of thing that would only make sense to a supervillain.
Eventually, there’s a new super on the scene, named Titan. Power-wise, he’s in Metro Man’s league, at least in principle, and Megamind has high hopes for him — but it turns out that what makes a hero, even a hero of Metro Man’s caliber, isn’t necessarily as easy as following the formula. Hilariously spoofing a certain iconic performance in the original 1978 Superman, Megamind offers Titan a pedagogy in heroism.
But not only doesn’t Titan have the right stuff, his story arc darkly suggests that a seemingly harmless loser’s very mediocrity might be all that restrains him from becoming something much worse. Titan exemplifies humanity in its corruptibility and fallenness; if Megamind’s antihero protagonist status evokes sympathy for the marginalized, Titan reminds us that the marginal are no more inherently sympathetic than anyone else.
At the same time, Megamind is aware that goodness didn’t actually begin and end with Metro Man. As long as there is evil, more than one character suggests, good will rise up against it. It might not come from a would-be hero like Titan; it might come from Roxanne, or possibly even Megamind himself.
Megamind isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it’s good, clean fun. Some readers may know I’m no fan of Will Ferrell, but he’s good in the role, and a rapid cross fire of words between Megamind and Metro Man simultaneously recalls Ferrell’s brilliantly loopy non sequitur tangents (see lions versus tuna in The Other Guys) with the surreally florid metaphorical fancies of The Tick. It’s even funny how Megamind mispronounces a lot of words: clearly someone who spent a lot of time as a kid alone with books (he said, with the voice of experience).
Brad Pitt, who had a starring role in one of DreamWorks’ best hand-drawn animated films, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, is effective in a smaller role. Tina Fey brings strength, character and humor to the critical role of Roxanne.
There are some clever twists and riffs on comic-book conventions, from Metro Man’s superspeed to the possibility of an unexpected superweakness. The villain’s third-act defeat can be seen coming a long way off, but the climactic stunt is an inspired application of one of Megamind’s nefarious devices.
If in the end, I have a caveat about Megamind, it comes down to the ambiguity of Metro Man. Though not ultimately unsympathetic, Metro Man is seen, finally, in a decidedly nonheroic light. Unlike Pixar’s vastly superior The Incredibles, which affirmed the heroic archetype even as it cross-examined it, Megamind suggests that sometimes the hero isn’t really a hero at all. That may not be problematic in itself, but it might be symptomatic of a larger issue that, repeated in film after film, can become a problem.
Children need heroes: icons of courage, compassion and self-sacrifice to look up to and aspire to imitate. Part of growing up is coming to understand and accept that even the best of our heroes have feet of clay, and all of them will let us down in one way or another. But that knowledge should come gradually, tempered with deep respect for the tremendous accomplishments of men and women with feet of clay. The heroic image of the knight, the saint, the ideal mother or father should remain a lively ideal in our imaginations, tempered by reality, but not sullied by cynicism.
A child’s capacity for hero worship shouldn’t be squelched by cynical deconstructionism. Not that one movie will do that. Megamind is a fun, silly, entertaining movie that families will enjoy and will do no one any harm. But I wouldn’t want to raise my children on a diet of film after film that skewers the pretensions of would-be heroes. My kids and I spend plenty of time with Spider-Man, Zorro, Msgr. O’Flaherty (of The Scarlet and the Black), Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, Luke and Leia and Han, Frodo and Gandalf and Aragorn, and many others. We’ll watch Megamind too.
Register film critic Steven D. Greydanus is editor and chief critic at Decent Films.
He also blogs at NCRegister.com.
Content advisory: Animated action violence. Fine family viewing.
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Thank you for this fascinating review.
My only worry is that movies that skewer the hero archetype also skewer the alpha male archetype and I am a firm believer that alpha males are not the enemy. It is the stubborn determination that alpha males are known for that is going to carry society through the hard times. An inability to self-reflect is certainly a character flaw and one often attributed to the alpha type but I would much rather see it dealt with in a humorous way that doesn’t deter from the virtues of traditional manliness.
I am going to watch it but I will screen it before I let the kids watch it. In this day and age where the feminist ideology has almost completely taken over I feel I have to be extra scrupulous.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one concerned about the growing ambiguity of the “heroes” in movies aimed at kids (ie. dragons aren’t bad, just misunderstood, etc., etc.)
Hero
It’s a nice-boy notion that the real world’s gonna destroy
You know
It’s a Marvel comicbook Saturday matinee fairytale, boy.
Steve Taylor aside, I also find myself nonplussed by the post-modern de-heroing that’s been going on since the early ‘90s (Disney is as much to blame for this as anyone, and even Gaston in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” plays into this archetype a little, I would argue). The one thing that kept me from truly enjoying “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog” was that Captain Hammer was such an irredeemable tool.
That said, it’s nice to know Megamind doesn’t make this its all in all, so I’ll be able to watch it without waiting for the inevitable suckerpunch to my neo-classical sensibilities. Thanks again for the recommendation on “The Spectacular Spider-Man”. We’ve watched the entire first season on Netflix and it is FANTASTIC (the amount of continuity there is almost unheard of for a 23-minute episodic cartoon). Way better than “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” and it really takes the Spiderman mythos to a place for me where it has never gone before.
Thank you, Mr. Greydanus. This is a very wise and insightful piece of writing.
At least this is “Metro Man” and not literally a Superman movie where Superman was deconstructed (although it’d be hardly a wise move for franchise owners). Kids (indeed, all of us) also need to be able to distinguish genuine virtue from self-promoting apparent virtue. Well, I haven’t seen it so I can’t say if the movie really tears down the very possibility of a Superman.
Thanks all for your comments! Paige, let me know what you think ... I don’t think that Megamind presents the Alpha Male as the enemy ... just as something less than the hero he was cracked up to be. He might be somewhat vindicated in the end, in a way, but not a heroic way.
First I would complain that these movies don’t portray heroes with feet of clay but rather the idea of a hero as flawed. The first idea can be comforting, I don’t have to be perfect to be a hero. The second is poison- there is no such thing as a hero.
Clearly if there is no objective good there is no objective hero.
Very good review; I saw the film this weekend with my kids and we all seemed to find at least the mechanics of the film enjoyable. I also agree that the accretion of hero-debunking films doesn’t bode well. However, I think the only saving grace in these films may be perhaps to show that perhaps some heroes are redeemed by their actions rather than predestination. I remember a line in Megamind about being judged by your actions. That, and the redemption offered by movies such as Despicable Me and Megamind seemed to be an important element. I thought the fact that Metro Man didn’t earn his upbringing but was given it almost Deus Ex Machina was telling us something; at least the villain Megamind and the villains in Despicable Me earned their keep, and ultimately did good. Perhaps it’s not just that our heroes have feet of clay but that they started out on a higher plane. The villains struggled; and some were mired in evil but some were redeemed.
As much as I liked Superman, he seemed a little too perfect; Spiderman or Batman always seemed to my liking, though the latter was a bit too Nietzschian for my taste. Both seemed to accept their imperfections, however.
I don’t know that I mind the skewering of the alpha male stereotype.I go to a fraternity dominated college, and I see every day how “being a man” has come to mean bloated entitlement, egotism, and worship of strength completely devoid of any responsibility, chivalry, or sacrifice. I think the problem is that in the rush to de-construct the he-man/jock type, no one ever presents an alternate version of strong manhood. Instead of saying “manhood is more than this” we’re left with “manhood is pathetic. Be a woman.” I would like to see more heroes along the lines of Gary Cooper in High Noon. Steve, can you think of any recent movies that have presented a strong and authentic masculinity, or at least let the hero be the heroine’s equal?
@Clare: You might be interested in my piece Fatherhood and Hollywood: Dads in the Movies.
It is hard to think of recent films that celebrate heroic masculinity. Cinderella Man? Yes, though it’s a downtrodden, barely coping sort of heroism. Superman Returns? In a somewhat deconstructed way. Avatar and The Bourne films lift up a broken, empty man who discovers meaning in a sort of new identity. There’s an implicit assumption that masculinity is broken. Rescue Dawn? The Nativity Story? Okay, but who saw them?
@Jim Holton: Thanks so much for your kind comments. I think you’re right on that Megamind and Despicable Me—like Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2—emphasize what we do as what defines us. Your feelings about Superman are shared by many ... I’d like to think the right take could make the character more relatable, but it’s a challenge to say the least.
By process of elimination, it looks like Spider-Man could be your favorite superhero? If so, that’s so something we have in common! Spider-Man has always been my favorite. :-)
@Martin: Your distinction is thought provoking and worth considering, but I don’t think it’s at all right to say that Megamind (or Despicable Me) portray a world in which there is “no objective good.” Quite the contrary, I think there is a fundamentally moral vision at work in both stories.
Ack! Somehow my links got botched. Let me try again:
Where Have You Gone, Gregory Peck?”
and
Fatherhood and Hollywood: Dads in the Movies.
This post contains SPOILERS:
I understand your concern about the deconstruction of the hero, but at the same time I think it can be dangerous to always and only place the strong and the good-looking as heroes as it can send a message to young girls that all handsome guys are good. In fairy tales, the princess would go off and marry a guy after just one kiss, despite knowing absolutely nothing about the guy. In response to victor, I think that Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” was not so much trying to deconstruct the male hero as it was trying to show that good looks and goodness don’t always go hand in hand, and that true beauty lies within.
Megamind does this to some extent:
“You don’t judge a book by its cover… you judge a person by their actions.” -Roxanne
However, I agree with Jim Holton that the real message of Megamind was that we choose our own destinies. As my wonderfully smart sister said so concisely, “despite a person’s talents or background, it is one’s decisions that decide whether one is a hero, a villain or just mediocre.”
Both Megamind and Metro Man initially felt that to be the villain and hero forever battling, was what they were destined for. Because of Metro Man’s great talent and abilities, everyone in Metro City expected him to be the hero and so he was. Even his title “Metro Man” showed that he was defined by and identified with the city.
“Every day, I ask myself, ‘what would I be without you?’”- Metro Man to the citizens of Metro City
In school, Megamind could never live up to the standard of “goodness” set by Metro Man and believed himself only talented in evil. The unheard destiny given him by his father transformed to “villainy” in his mind. His belief that talent determined one’s goodness was further shown after infusing the mediocre Hal with Metro Man’s powers. He thought all one needed to be a hero were the right gifts and abilities, and he was shocked when Hal used these great talents for villainy:
“I gave you these gifts and you squandered them on you!” -Megamind to Hal
Ultimately, it’s revealed that Metro Man, despite his gifts, chose mediocrity. I’m a comic geek and I know that “with great power, comes great responsibility,” so I don’t think Metro Man’s decision to quit was necessarily the best one. However, Metro Man seemed to somehow know that Megamind was not truly evil. Megamind believed he himself embodied evil while Metro Man embodied ultimate good:
“I’m a yin with no yang.”-Megamind on a world without Metro Man
Metro Man believed the good Megamind sought was within himself:
“There’s a yin to every yang. Where there’s evil, good will rise up against it. It’s taken me a long time to find my calling. It’s time you found yours.” -Metro Man to Megamind
At the end he says about Megamind, “I knew you had it in you.”
Perhaps Metro Man’s decision to quit was like a father stepping aside to allow the son to stand on his own. Since Metro Man would not save the city, Megamind was the only one who could stand against Tighten. Using his own talents of intelligence and perseverance, he defended the city and Roxanne as a hero against the talent he could never defeat as a villain. In the end this movie was a battle between free will and determinism where free will arose triumphant.
“Destiny is not the path given to us. It’s the path we choose for ourselves.” -Megamind
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