“Being Bad is the Only Thing I Was Good At”
by Mary McCarthy, Editor
I always thought the villains got a bad rap.
The new Dreamworks movie Megamind is fabulous family fun for all ages of kids- grownups included. Will Ferrell, Tina Fey and Brad Pitt star as the voices of the unforgettable characters that make up the new animated feature.
If you’ve ever felt sorry for a villain, this movie will have you (in a similar way to the Broadway musical Wicked) cheering for the ‘bad guy’ who may not be so bad after all.
The humor of Will Ferrell is, fortunately, interjected into the main character Megamind, a blue-headed outcast alien (“fitting in wasn’t really an option”) who grows up inside a prison and eventually escapes to attempt to defeat the city’s resident superhero, Metroman, voiced by Brad Pitt.
Megamind has a love for being bad (“I’m shaking in my custom baby seal leather boots”) and a penchant for hard rock; his action-hero background music is a version of “Bad to the Bone,” so you’ll hear AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, and Guns N Roses. There is also the enjoyable obligatory dance number seemingly required today in animated films- appropriately, it’s Michael Jackson’s “I’m Bad.”
Tina Fey is perfect as the nerdy-yet-adorable reporter (so, an animated version of herself, basically…) who delivers fun lines to Megamind and Metroman, telling them after she’s been kidnapped again: “Girls, girls, you’re both pretty. Can I go home now?”
You know it’s a well written kids’ movie when the kids and adults in the theatre are all laughing at the same time. I highly recommend this movie for kids of any age, though I’d say it is geared toward kids over age 4. As a diehard fan of the Disney villains, I’m so glad there’s a movie where the villain just may end up being the best good guy there is.
I attended with my 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son and we all loved it. My son exclaimed “When can we get it on DVD?!”– so perhaps the enthusiastic review of a young movie patron says it all.
Megamind: Dreamworks, Rated PG, probably for a few death references that may be borderline scary or at least worthy of explanation for younger children. No cusses or sex- just a few adult-themes (e.g. we think Metroman is dead though he really isn’t, etc…) and they say something about there being no Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy, so you may have to explain that one… luckily, they’re hands off Santa.
