I should have been alerted to the quality of this when it just showed up on Peacock with little to no fanfare. Kung Fu Panda 4 went theatrical, and it did so without the Furious Five involved. So, if Dreamworks was willing to make massive sacrifices for a theatrical sequel, imagine what they were willing to do for a straight-to-streaming sequel. Of course, gone is the charming original star studded voice cast of Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, and even David Cross. Instead, we’ve got… Laura Post. Wait, what? Come to find out, Laura does more than audio description, sometimes she pinch hits for Tina Fey. But, this couldn’t even get David Cross back?
I’m not opposed to sequels of lesser quality. I actually enjoy Disney’s Return Of Jafar and Aladdin and the King Of Thieves. I actually liked Tarzan 2 and Brother Bear 2. So, I’ve enjoyed a few animated sequels. A few. As much as I want to tell you that this one with Laura Post charmed my socks off, it just doesn’t live up to anything. She’s probably the best thing about the film.
The original had this goofy charm of a villain changing his stripes, inadvertently, while another ended up being the surprise villain. Now that Megamind is accepted as a hero, where does he go from here? Well, a rather forgettable group of villains threatens the city, and he has to stop it, but really without significant help. They’ve changed the name of minion, and also added a young girl to the film who is the President of Megamind’s fan club. Nothing really feels well thought out, but considering there’s now a Megamind Rules on Peacock, it is more likely this was just meant to launch the series.
It’s not great. They have a problematic relationship with the young girl, who during the film expresses that she feels like something was her fault, and while normal films would reassure the small child character that it wasn’t, they just let that sit. Yup. Guess it was. No one really sounds like their original voice actor, though Post comes close to Fey.I’m not sure who this is for, because Megamind was 14 years ago, and this seems aimed at kids. Well, if you were a kid when megamind came out, you likely now have a kid. Unless you were really young, the target demo for this film was really 8-13 year olds, which is the demo for most Dreamworks films. Plus, adults, which is why they pay those big names. Here, this is aimed at probably the 5-9 crowd, and those kids didn’t grow up with Megamind, or know who he is.
The fact is, I don’t know why this exists. If you wanted to bring in Megamind fans, you cut this too short. It’s a cheap cash grab aimed at people who don’t know who the character is, because there was only ever 1 film, and it isn’t exactly a classic. No one is rushing to show their kids Megamind. What’s next? A Mr Peabody and Sherman sequel?
The audio description is disappointing considering one of the best narrators is involved. It certainly isn’t going to spark a new generation of fans from the blind community either. This is just a misfire. Sorry, Laura.
Final Grade:D+
