A Super-Villain Faces an Existential Crisis in Megamind

Last year saw the release of two computer-animated films about not-so-evil villains struggling to determine whether their dastardly ambitions can ever bring them true fulfillment. I had hoped to catch both Despicable Me and Megamind in theaters, but I ended up settling for DVD. The former rose to the top of my Netflix queue in early March, and I found it thoroughly charming. This month, I got to check out Megamind, and I found it equally satisfying.

Despicable Me aims at a younger audience, with more slapstick, a lead with a silly accent and three young girls as the major secondary characters. The pull of parenthood causes hunched, hook-nosed Gru to deviate from his plans, and the theme of longing for a family makes it relatable viewing for young and old alike. Megamind, on the other hand, is clearly designed more for adults. Megamind is a bald, scrawny blue humanoid who was launched toward Earth as an infant with an unknown destiny heavy upon him.  Barreling toward Earth right alongside him was the baby who would grow up to become Metro Man, who looks like a typical human, only burlier, more classically perfect.  He had the privilege of a pampered upbringing, while Megamind was raised in prison.  All their lives, these two aliens have been dodging each other, with Metro Man, adored hero of Metro City, always just one step ahead.  Until now.

Megamind (Will Ferrell) has grown used to the routine of baiting Metro Man (Brad Pitt) by kidnapping saucy reporter Roxanne (Tina Fey). None of his predictable scare tactics faze her, and when the inevitable confrontation comes, the nemeses’ quick banter conveys a sense that the two are rather enjoying themselves. This is all little more than a game, albeit a tired one. It’s a game Megamind gleefully schemes to win – but when the dust from his latest encounter settles and he finds himself the victor for a change, he realizes just how empty his life is without his destructive goal to fall back on.

Megamind is a story demonstrating the way that love can combat inhumane impulses, with Roxanne filling a previously unnoticed void in the blue villain’s life in much the same way as the orphans in Despicable Me. I often found myself reminded of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog as I watched. The obvious hero is narcissistic and more concerned with adulation than the improvement of the city whose residents worship him. The villain is cunning but clearly doesn’t have a strong taste for violence. Compassion stirs within him at inconvenient times. In a guileless guise, he befriends Roxanne and begins to wonder if his life might be more worthwhile if he considered a different path. What is a man to do when his purpose has been realized and the years stretch out before him, full of terrifying possibility? It’s an existential quandary.

Jonah Hill brings a slightly skeezy slacker vibe to the role of Hal, Roxanne’s cameraman. At first he just seems like a lovable chump who can’t get the girl embroiled in a world of supernatural powers, but by the time Megamind decides to involve him in his next big scheme, it’s apparent that this young man has a little something extra, an indefinable quality that will make him stand out. But will he play into the plan that Megamind has groomed him for, or will he veer off-course? Other fairly major characters include bland museum guard Bernard (Ben Stiller); the crusty prison warden (J. K. Simmons) who knows Megamind all too well; and Minion (David Cross), an extraterrestrial fish who was sent to be Megamind’s caretaker. Much of the film’s comedy comes from these side characters.

The film has a rather dark and foreboding quality to it, with many scenes of ruination and cold technology. At times, the atmosphere almost reminded me of The Dark Knight, though the tone is never that oppressive. Nonetheless, this is a movie that broods, so while I’m not sure I would deem it inappropriate for children, I think adults will get the most out of it. In addition to the somber reflections on finding meaning in a confusing world, the movie offers homages to superhero and espionage conventions that will probably be best appreciated by those with more extensive viewing experience. For family film night, then, I would first recommend Despicable Me. But if you’re in the mood for something a little bit more adult-oriented, why not wrap your mind around Megamind?

Carell and Freeman Keep Carrey-less Evan Almighty Afloat

Four years ago, I went to see Bruce Almighty on opening night, having been tipped off about it at a Don McLean concert in Buffalo the previous year. My interest was sufficiently piqued, and the movie didn't disappoint. So when I heard about the sequel, Evan Almighty, earlier this year, I was eager to check it out. Though the lack of Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston - who were asked to reprise their roles and declined - was potentially ominous, given the nature of the film it seemed plausible for a legitimate sequel to focus on an entirely different group of people, as long as God was still in the picture. With Morgan Freeman back on board, joined by Steve Carell and a huge assortment of animals, the film had promise. And then the reviews started rolling in, and I wondered whether this would be another of those disastrous sequels that would manage to sap life out of the original by mere association.

So I was pleasantly surprised to disagree with Richard Roeper and a host of other critics. Maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough, but I found Evan Almighty thoroughly enjoyable, starting with the previews, which not only announced VeggieTales' second big screen adventure but also gave me a Dick King-Smith adaptation about the Loch Ness Monster to look forward to. These family-friendly previews gave me a good sense of what sort of movie we were about to see. While Bruce Almighty was primarily aimed at adults, with a fair share of rather raunchy humor, the PG-rated Evan Almighty has much more in common with old school live action Disney flicks than contemporary comedies. The genre shift could be jarring to some, but Freeman's performance is consistent throughout the two films, tying them together.

Less consistent is Carell as Evan Baxter, the narcissistic newsman who was Bruce's rival in the original; while he comes across as a bit self-absorbed, particularly in the beginning, he soon becomes sympathetic, just an overworked guy trying to make a difference in the world but leaving his family behind in the process. I'm willing to overlook it, though, particularly since our perception of him in the first film was probably skewed by the fact that we were seeing him as Bruce was. Some of the humor in the sequel comes from the fact that Evan is an immaculately groomed neat freak who suddenly has an unshavable beard, much like Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause, and a wild assortment of animals following him around. The almost Hitchcock-esque sequences in which he is tailed by dozens of pairs of birds are among the most entertaining in the film. Once he accepts all the not-so-subtle hints, the animals become a welcome rather than oppressive presence and even manage to aid him in his divinely appointed task of building an ark.

On the home front, Evan has to deal with his wife Joan (Lauren Graham), who first chides him for being an inattentive dad and later for apparently cracking up. It does seem a little odd that the people who live with Evan would not find anything amiss in the fact that a week's worth of beard has appeared overnight, but even when Evan tells Joan about his meeting with God, she remains convinced that the hair, the boat and even the animals that seem magnetically drawn to Evan constitute some sort of massive mid-life crisis. Meanwhile, his sons - Dylan (Johnny Simmons), Jordan (Graham Phillips), and Animal Planet-addicted Ryan (Jimmy Bennett) - prefer the new Evan, since he's around a lot more.

In his new role as congressman, Evan has three close advisors: the sassy Rita (Wanda Sykes), anxious Marty (John Michael Higgins) and excessively admiring Eugene (Jonah Hill). They soon have more than they bargained for in presenting a positive image of Evan to the press, which hungrily fixates on his increasingly bizarre antics. He also has an unexpected ally, Congressman Long (John Goodman), a fat cat who happens to be Evan's neighbor in the fancy new development where he recently moved his family. This alliance quickly turns sour as it becomes clear the corrupt congressman intends to bribe and cajole the rookie into helping him pass through a bill that will allow him to develop peripheral national park lands. Goodman makes a great villain along the lines of Alonzo Hawk, the despicable developer who graced several Disney films in the 60s and 70s.

When we get wind of the piece of legislation he wants Evan to sign, its ecological bent is no surprise; the film drives home Evan's reckless consumerism early on, from his massive, gas-guzzling hummer to a conversation he has with the man building the cabinets in his new home in which he cheerfully chooses wood made from old growth trees. Stewardship of the environment forms a strong undercurrent for the story, most effectively illustrated when God shows Evan how the valley in which he lives used to look before it became a victim of urban sprawl. The other main message of the film is to treasure one's family and, more generally, to never miss an opportunity to perform an "Act of Random Kindness".

Watching the movie, I was reminded of several of director Tom Shadyac's previous films. Like Ace Ventura it concerns itself with the well-being of animals, and with so many of them on screen at once, it's sure to attract animal lovers of all ages. Like Liar, Liar, it involves a dad who's too wrapped up in his career to make time for his family. Like Patch Adams, it focuses on the importance of making life better for individuals. And, of course, like Bruce Almighty, it depicts God as compassionate and involved in our lives. Shadyac is a devout Christian attempting to bring his sensibilities to the big screen, and he succeeds in this aim especially well here. While putting words in God's mouth always runs the risk of blasphemy, Shadyac's motivation is sincere, and Freeman's gentle but insistent portrayal commands respect.

I read that Evan Almighty is the most expensive comedy ever made. While I enjoyed the film very much, I find that categorization a little strange, since comedy really wasn't the focus of this movie. There's the unfortunate barrage of defecation, particularly of the avian variety, which I suppose is hard to resist when you've got hundreds of animals and you're trying to get a laugh out of a PG crowd; thankfully, that's about the only crude humor to be found in the movie. Most of the amusing moments are visual, such as God appearing as several passersby while trying to convince Evan to build the ark or a pair of primates downing lemonade with Evan on a break from pounding boards. There's a running joke involving a silly dance that Evan does, and much as Bruce kept seeing the same mysterious phone number repeatedly, our hero can't escape the number 614, a reference to Genesis 6:14, in which Noah is commanded to build the ark. Evan's realtor (Molly Shannon) is named Eve Adams, while a movie theater marquee he passes reads The 40-Year-Old Virgin Mary. It's a funny enough movie, but it's really more of a feel-good film the whole family can enjoy together, which in a too frequently cynical age may be even better.

Seth Rogen Follows in Steve Carell's Footsteps in Knocked Up

A few years ago, if I had seen the trailers for Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, I probably would not have said to myself, "Now, that is a movie I need to see." One-night stands? Potty humor? Excessive profanity? R rating? Sounds more like something to avoid. But as much as those factors caused me to question how much I would enjoy the film, I couldn't help but be intrigued; Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, which I embraced when it arrived on DVD, was a brilliant show, and while The 40-Year-Old Virgin was pretty crude for my tastes, it had heart. So after hearing many gushing reviews, I decided I'd better check out Knocked Up and see if it lived up to the hype.

The first thing I'll say for Apatow is that he is loyal. No fewer than five Freaks and Geeks alums put in an appearance, starting with Seth Rogen as kind but clueless schlub Ben Stone, whose drunken shenanigans with Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, ambitious young correspondent who has just received a promotion, lead to her pregnancy. While Rogen's character was the least developed of the "freak" crowd of which he was a part on Freaks and Geeks, he made a strong impression nonetheless, and when he showed up in Virgin, this time in a chattier role, it became easier to envision him as a leading man. Ben may be a loser who's never worked and whose last name seems to be a nod to his favorite activity, but he really carries the movie, especially when we realize that despite his inertia and rather foul mouth, he's actually a very sweet guy.

Other familiar faces from Freaks and Geeks include Jason Segel and Martin Starr as two of Ben's perpetually stoned housemates. There are echoes of their characters from that show in their performances here; Jason is intense to an intimidating level, while Martin is put upon by the others. (The quartet of guys with whom Ben resides all share a first name with the actors who portray them; the other two are played by Jonah Hill, who had a brief but memorable role in Virgin, and Jay Baruchel, from Apatow's short-lived television series Undeclared.) James Franco shows up as himself putting in a plug for Spider-man 3, which several characters later go see, perhaps in a sly show of support for Franco by Apatow, who not only directed Knocked Up but wrote the script. Leslie Mann, who had a brief role on Freaks and Geeks as a teacher on whom Bill had a crush and in Virgin as a disastrous potential date for Andy, plays Allison's shrill sister Debbie, whose seemingly ideal marriage to the melancholy Pete (Paul Rudd, from Virgin) is crumbling despite the presence of two adorable daughters (Maude and Iris Apatow).

Among the few cast members without a previous Apatow connection, Harold Ramis, who looks and sounds remarkably like Rogen, is both funny and tender as Ben's dad, and SNL cast member Kristen Wiig is hilarious as Jill, a higher-up who quietly offers Allison icily insincere congratulations for landing a plum position. Bill Hader, also of SNL, doesn't stand out much as Allison's co-worker Brent but is still amusing, as is Alan Tudyk as Jack, her too-cheerful boss.

All of these characters add to the film in one way or another, but the success of the movie really depends upon Rogen and Heigl, and they play off one another very well. While they don't seem like a very likely couple, the circumstances of Ben and Allison's meeting and subsequent hook-up are believable; chalk it up to a gentlemanly gesture on Ben's part and Allison's promotion-induced adrenaline. Besides, she may be a knockout, but she's also very down-to-earth and doesn't seem to think herself better than Ben, at least until he tells her about his "job", which involves pin-pointing all the nude scenes in various films for chronicling on a website he and his buddies are working on, and confesses that he's spent all of his adult life thus far living off the money he received when a mail truck ran over his foot. Despite her dubious impression of how he spends his time, once she learns of the pregnancy and decides to keep the baby, she's determined to at least give their relationship a shot, and he's willing, at least on some level, to step up to the challenge of being a father.

In romantic terms, I preferred Knocked Up to Virgin, as I liked both parties equally and was really rooting for them to end up together. While Ben's lethargic pals aren't as engaging as Andy's co-workers, they still form a decent support system; meanwhile, the friendship that develops between Ben and Pete is charming, and Allison shares some nice moments with her sister. In terms of vulgarity, I can't decide which of the films is cruder. Both are quite heavy on the profanity and the explicit references to sexuality, though what we actually see on screen is somewhat limited. I didn't find the movie any more offensive than I expected; reviews and my prior experience with Virgin left me well prepared. Still, despite the ultimately fairly warm and fuzzy undercurrent, this is not a film I would recommend to all audiences. My parents are intrigued enough by what they've heard to want to check it out; I suspect they will find it equal parts funny, touching and mortifying.

I won't heap "movie of the summer"-type accolades on this film, but I will say that fans of Apatow's first film should enjoy his second, which may do for Rogen what Virgin did for Steve Carell. I don't think either comes close to capturing the perfect blend of hilarity and drama found in Freaks and Geeks, which was situated firmly in PG-13, if not strictly PG, territory. I'd like to see him do a movie more in that vein, but until he does, his first two film outings are worthwhile efforts. Just get ready to click the ol' internal mute button a few dozen times...