Villain Megamind (Will Ferrell) is an alien sent to Earth growing up alongside good guy Metro Man (Brad Pitt). While love and support showered Metro Man, Megamind was despised growing up in a prison. Then in one of his evil schemes, Megamind surprisingly kills Metro Man by accidentally discovering his copper weakness. Megamind loses his reason for being when he doesn't have a good guy to oppose him. So he sets out to create a good guy hero. Only it completely backfires, and Megamind must figure out how to save the day.

There is some fun in this. The evil schemes should be more silly and less deadly. To start off the movie by killing a character is a little bit morbid and a little bit too serious. The twist is great. It takes the whole superhero genre much more seriously than the usual kiddie fare.

The biggest problem is that this followed the much cuter Despicable Me. This is a more serious themed movie while the other villain led movie is a wacky cartoon. Even though both have minions, the Despicable Minions are super cute and super hilarious. Megamind just doesn't sell as well.

As far as Dreamworks movies go, I do prefer Prince of Egypt, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon, but Megamind is one of the studio's better movies. While the film loses its way in the story just towards the end, and slackens in the pace a tad at that point, it is still smart and very entertaining. In general, the pace is fast and furious, while the story is original and exciting. I also enjoyed the voice acting, I don't care for Will Ferell but still thought he was brilliant as the zany and very lovable titular character, while Brad Pitt also entertains and Tina Fey is suitably sassy. The characters all add a lot to the movie, Megamind for me is one of the better title characters in a Dreamworks film.

The film is also hilarious, the dialogue is funny and smart and the sight gags and references come by thick and fast. I particularly loved Ferell's Marlon Brando impression, one of the better laughs of the film. The music is memorable and energetic, with some nice song choices, while the animation is fantastic, very crisp and smooth with some amazing colours. All in all, this is not Dreamworks' best, but it is one of their better and funniest movies. I do recommend it, it is terrific fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I think that the timing of the release of "Megamind" hurt it quite a bit. If you look at the revenue for this film, it really is not that impressive, as it cost nearly as much as it made. However, "Despicable Me", which came out shortly before "Megamind" made a ton of money--many times what it cost to make. Now this does not mean one film is necessarily better that the other. I really think that "Despicable Me" stole "Megamind"'s thunder and people were just not interested in seeing two films about an evil genius.

So what's my verdict? Well, frankly I think both films are about equally good but have a slightly different audience. "Despicable Me" is clearly marketed more to kids and has cuteness as its advantage. The minions from "Despicable Me" are magnificent and adorable. It's also a tad formulaic--but not bad at all despite the predictability. "Megamind", however, is more a film for teens and adults--as cuteness is not really something I'd associate with the movie. It also has a few more surprises and a more adult sense of humor. My wife and oldest daughter preferred "Megamind" while I preferred "Despicable Me"--but we all agreed that both were really nice films.

I could say a lot more about the film, but since it's now out on DVD and already has a ton of reviews, I'll pass. Suffice to say it's well worth seeing and is excellent entertainment.