"Megamind" is a "Mega-bore:" I Miss Hand Drawn Cartoons!

All Photos Courtesy: Paramount Pictures

I have to be honest and tell you my expectations going into “Megamind” weren’t high.

I’ve had just about enough computer animated movies to last me quite a while. I miss just simple, hand-drawn cartoons.

And my low expectations were met.

There really isn’t anything visually stimulating or new about “Megamind.”

I watched it with my daughter, who didn’t seem to be much more amused by it than I was.

Early into the film, there were a couple glimpses of hope. I have to confess a weakness. For some reason, I love the word, “minion.” So when our protagonist’s mommy said, “Here’s your minion and here’s your binkie,” I laughed out loud.

And that was just about the end of the entertainment.

Sure, there were a few interesting sketches, but aside from a handful of amusing shots, there’s not much to talk about.

The characters, back-story, plot, etc. are all unbelievably familiar. When Megamind was telling about his childhood, I was oddly reminded of Dr. Evil talking in group therapy about his upbringing in the first “Austin Powers” movie.

Megamind is weaker than the other kids at school, so he uses his superior intellect to create a “Dodge ball blocker.”

There were also elements of countless other superhero/super-villain cartoons. “Megamind” could have been called, “Meet the Despicable, Robinson Me’s Incredibles.” I could think of several other cartoons it was borrowing liberally from, but I really don’t feel like putting the mental energy into the task. But bear in mind the movies I’m saying “Megamind” is a derivative of aren’t exactly works smacking of originality themselves.

But the few, and there were very few, interesting visuals that there were, were not enough to save the rehashed story, boring characters and tepid dialogue.

The funniest moment came when Metro Man flew in at the opening of the “Metro Man Museum” and started juggling babies.

That was worth a chuckle. A guffaw, even.

My favorite character, just from a visual perspective, was Minion. He kind of reminded me of “GIR” from “Invader Zim.” (A vastly superior cartoon. Remind me to do a tribute to it one day.)

And Megamind himself has the Devil beard, which I have to admit, I’m a sucker for.

I have always been a big fan of Satan.

Oddly enough, Roxanne Ritchie, voiced by Tina Fey is more interesting before we see her. I’ll let you decide if that’s to Fey’s credit or to the tepidity of the artists who created her character.

She is so bland and poorly drawn that Fey’s wit deserves better visuals.  I'm not even putting in a picture of her character because I don't want to bore you to death.

God, I'm a snob.

So, to sum up "Megamind" in a word: meh. The whole movie is so bland that we just deserve to go see something better. 

Here’s hoping Disney's Thanksgiving animated offering, “Tangled” is more fun.

And, of course, there is no doubt in my mind “The Illusionist” is going to be one of the great films of the year. I am so psyched for that movie.

Coming soon, I'm going to be talking about Paul Solet's twisted first feature "Grace" on my blog,  theresidentfilmsnob.blogspot.com.

I know you're just waiting with baited breath.