Movie Reviews: Megamind

Among the major critics, there’s hardly a bad review of Megamind in the lot; mostly just various degrees of admiration. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times awards it three stars and describes it as “an amusing family entertainment” with “clever dialogue.” As usual, he’s unimpressed with the 3D, even though he remarks that it is “well-used.” He recommends that “if you can find it in 2D, that’s the best choice.” Likewise, Claudia Puig in USA Today concludes that “the 3D is generally superfluous.” On the other hand, Stephen Holden in the New York Times writes that it “is immaculately sleek and gracefully enhanced by 3-D” and that it “has a lot more in its head than the typical aspiring animated blockbuster.” Joy Tipping in the Dallas Morning News that it’s “not up there with the Disney and Pixar greats, but it certainly continues DreamWorks Animation’s rapid advancement in the art form.” Likewise, Steven Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer figures that Megamind isn’t as inventive as The Incredibles, “but it’s fun, and funny stuff” and offers “momentum and dazzle.” The most repeated complaint about the movie is that it fails to explore new territory — borrowing from every manner of comic book. “But if it’s difficult to find novelty in Megamind, it’s also hard not to like,” writes Peter Howell in the Toronto Star. Amy Biancolli in the San Francisco Chronicle comments that while “the plot is predictable in the broad strokes,” it is “delightfully unexpected in the smaller ones.” And Wesley Morri concludes in the Boston Globe: “The movie is about the problem of having seen it all before, yes. But it doesn’t treat us as though we have.” »