Megamind

I give this one a thumbs up. It's nothing you haven't seen before and won't blow your mind or anything, but it's a very funny, very clever cartoon that has a lot to offer both kids and adults alike. I enjoyed it and recommend it, if you're into that sort of thing.

The film is basically a superhero story as told from the point of view of the villain. That's a fun premise, especially when the villain actually wins, much to every one's surprise, including the villain Megamind himself. He finally achieves his plan of taking over the city, but feels lost and hollow in his victory. And, no, that's not really a spoiler, since that's pretty much the first act of the film. It's a bit overplotted and Megamind's character arc isn't completely believable, but it's very funny and very clever, even though it's maybe not as funny or clever as The Incredibles or Despicable Me, both of which covered similar territory already. But if you liked those movies, you'll like this one too.

Will Ferrell does fine voice work as Megamind, although I think he's funnier when you can see his full range of facial expressions and mannerisms. I don't think he's as talented at voice work than he is when he's on camera, but he did all right. Brad Pitt was somewhat underwhelming as the voice of Metro Man, the film's version of a Superman-type hero. Pitt is a fine actor with a nice voice, but either his manner of speaking or just the tone of his voice lacked the real gravitas to pull off this type of character. He just sounded flat, and his voice didn't match the brilliant visual look of the character. They should've gone with somebody like Puddy from Seinfeld. Tina Fey was very good as the lead heroine, however, giving a surprisingly effective dramatic performance. As unpopular as this is going to make me, but I usually find her incredibly annoying, but I enjoyed her voice work here.

Visually, this film was incredible. This had some of the best CG humans I've seen yet, crafting a perfect blend of realism with still cartoony dimensions and proportions. Best of all were the action set pieces, which brought to life comic book style battles better than I've seen in almost any movie of this type. The action sequences were so well done they made me wish somebody would finally make a big budget CG film based on superheroes that was played straight, instead of for laughs or as a parody. I'm sure the upcoming Avengers movie will be cool, but I'd rather see that kind of film done in full CG like this was.

So... Megamind. I liked it.