Megamind

After "I - Simply Incorrigible" already showed in a very amusing way that even the meanest villains have a soft core, "Madagascar" director Tom McGrath also proves the truth of this thesis in an extremely entertaining way with his animated fun "Megamind".

The moment Megamind arrives on Earth as a baby after the destruction of his home planet, his fate is sealed. Because unlike Metroman, who lands on the blue planet at the same time, he grows up not sheltered by a loving family, but among evil jailbirds in prison. And so two arch-enemies are born, who year after year fight a bitter battle for Metro City - a battle that Megamind always loses. But one day, when Metroman is once again hailed as a hero by the city and is to be honored with a grand museum opening, the unbelievable happens: Megamind defeats his nemesis and becomes the ruler of Metro City. But the joy of victory quickly gives way to yawning boredom. Because without Metroman, there is no one with whom Megamind can measure his strength. But a solution is quickly found: the ingenious villain creates a new superhero without further ado, who is to protect the city and thus becomes a new worthy opponent for Megamind. Too bad that this new superhero Tighten sees things a little differently and far outshines Megamind in terms of evil. And so it is now up to him, of all people, to save Metro City and become the city's new hero...

The parallels to the hit movie "I - Simply Incorrigible" may be unmistakable at first glance: a supervillain who realizes his good side in his quest to commit the perfect crime, with a trusty sidekick named Minion at his side - it sounds an awful lot like the same script idea just passed through two different hands here. But it wouldn't do "Megamind" justice to simply rate it as a mere knock-off. That's because this animated adventure, peppered with charming references to various superhero movies, but most especially "Superman", has a sense of humor all its own that may not be quite as clever or original, but is still endearing and, above all, funny enough to warrant a trip to the movies.

Filled with quirky but somehow endearing characters and plenty of great gags, the fun makes for extremely good laughs despite a certain level of recognition. The visuals are great, but noticeably more cartoonish than many animated films striving for particular realism. But since especially the humor of "Megamind" has a very big cartoon character, the visuals are absolutely appropriate and increase the entertainment factor significantly. The whole thing is supported by the wonderful work of the voice actors, whereby this is one of the lucky cases where the German version could transport almost all the wit of the original over. Admittedly, this is also due to the fine voice actors, who have a good track record when it comes to comedy timing. While Megamind and Metroman were voiced by Will Ferrell and Brad Pitt in the original, the German version featured a great Bastian Pastewka, Oliver Welke and - wonderfully as a Minion - Oliver Kalkofe behind the microphone. And they, along with the rest of the voice actors, clearly went all out to live up to the wit and charm of the original.

In addition, "Megamind" is also one of those rare cases where the 3D effects really make sense and are used well and, more importantly, effectively. Sure, the film works in the traditional 2D version as well. But the three-dimensional version is filled with nice effects that actually manage to add to the enjoyment of the film.

Sure, the bottom line is that "Megamind" is not the most original and truly not the best animated film of the year. Extremely good laughs, some great 3D effects and a charming story make the film worth watching for young and old viewers alike! A good example of nice cinema entertainment without a long term effect, but with a high enjoyment factor. Worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp