New from DreamWorks is Megamind, the story of the arch-villain Megamind and his efforts to fill the void left after he defeats his arch-enemy Metro Man. On the surface, this movie appears to be DreamWorks redoing the CGI parody formula that worked so well for “Shrek”, except this time with superheroes instead of fairy tales. However, the film ultimately escapes such a label and proves itself a clever, animated comedy in its own right.

Will Ferrell plays Megamind, self-described greatest villain in the world, who battles his arch-nemesis Metro Man (played by Brad Pitt). Early on in the movie, however, he accidentally kills Metro Man, and as such finds himself in an existential crisis that he attempts to alleviate by creating a new superhero with his technology. Soon after, a reporter named Roxanne, played by Tina Fey, and her impotent cameraman Hal, played by Jonah Hill, get involved.

Whoever made this film clearly put more effort into it than the genre expects them to. The plot is rife with unexpected twists, like the fact that Megamind can disguise himself as other people. The jokes are way more clever than one might expect them to be, as well (like one character using his super-speed to go out, reflect on life, read several books, and hatch a plan all in the span of a couple seconds).

However, like other movies of its kind, Megamind suffers a bit from an over-reliance on pop culture for jokes, including such “timeless” jokes as a modified version of Obama’s “Yes We Can” poster displaying “No You Can’t”, in addition to many distracting songs from AC/DC and the like. The pacing is also a bit muddled at times, and character’s motivations aren’t always clear or believable.

I’d recommend Megamind to anyone who wants a good family film that exceeds the expectations of its genre. Megamind gets eight stars out of ten.