So, as I mentioned in last night’s post I went out to the movies and saw Megamind, the new animated film from Dreamworks SKG starring Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and Brad Pitt.

I am not a huge fan of Mr. Ferrells’ work, but I do know that when given a  good script and sharp direction he can turn in a wonderful performance as he did in the film Stranger Than Fiction. (You must see it if you have not.) Megamind is another film I am going to end up owning.

If you have seen the previews you can pretty much chart the overall arc of this picture.  This is not a deep dissertation into the human condition. This is a fun super-hero parody. It is the movie I wanted the Incredibles to be, but wasn’t. (I know many people really liked that film, for me it wasn’t bad it was just so-so and came of more of a Bond parody than a superhero parody.)

If you have not seen the previews, Megamind is the story of two aliens rocketed to earth as babes. One handsome and lovely who is nurtured and accept and the other blue and strange who is ostracized and shunned. The handsome child become a hero, MetroMan while the shunned child become a villain, Megamind.

Of course in a film of this nature, with an eye to the young people who will be seeing it, good must always triumph and evil punished, so Megamind suffers defeat after defeat. In many ways this reminded me of and would back a good paring with Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog. Both films use a villain as a hero, both explore the villain as outcast and both take their villains on journeys that both seek, but did not expect.

There are plenty of reference suitable for both adult and children in the movie. (I the picture you can see a reference to the SciFi cult film Robot Monster.) The two hours of running time passed quickly and I laughed many times. I become so engrossed int eh picture that I stopped trying to predict the plot and simply enjoyed it. That to me is the mark of a film that is well made.

I ended up seeing the film in 3D, not because I have any love for that particular schedule gimmick, but because the 3D showing fit my evening the best. That said the 3D in this film was performed flawlessly. So well in fact that I stopped marveling at the effect and simply accepted the film as it was presented. This director understood how to pace his editing for the effect so that he never strained the viewers eyes.

Overall this film is a big thumbs up and well worth the price of admission.