More than a decade ago, Will Ferrell’s delightfully villainous stint as the titular character of Dreamworks’ animated venture, Megamind, was released and with the comedian effortlessly channeling his inner Lex Luthor and Brainiac to surprising effect, the character quickly became a fan favorite. Now, despite the fact that Megamind was somewhat derivative, as similarities with the likes of Despicable Me and Incredibles were pretty apparent, the funkiness of the subversive storytelling, awesome voice cast, and themes like identity, responsibility, and power dynamics won over a huge audience of every age. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the recently released sequel Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate, which suffers from a dated plotline, a change in the iconic voice cast, and downgraded CG animation.
The abundance of superhero movies and deconstructed versions of them in recent years has also turned out to be detrimental for the sequel, as the return of the beloved supervillain fails to bring anything new to the genre that the audience hasn’t seen yet. At least the movie acts as the pilot for the upcoming Megamind series, which we hope will turn out to be interesting if the longer format gets utilized properly.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Do Minion And Megamind Part Ways?
As the movie begins, a fourth-wall-breaking Megamind brings viewers up to speed with everything that transpired to make him the defender of Metro City. After the city’s protector, Metro Man decided to quit his superhero career to seek out a life of his own and faked his death to do so, the supervillain Megamind found a purpose in altering the course of his life and defended Metro City from the clutches of the villainous Tighten with the help of Minion and Roxanne. Megamind and his ever-helpful subordinate, Minion, the armor-wearing alien fish, have shouldered the superheroic responsibilities quite sincerely ever since, gaining much popularity as a result. In accordance with the change of profession, Minion has been renamed Ol’Chum by Megamind, although it remains unknown whether this is an affectionate nickname or a mockery to denote him as shark bait.
Megamind and Chum’s superhero careers have been flourishing pretty well, as shown in a fun sequence where the duo catch the Go Fish Gang red-handed, and, after a goofy chase sequence across town that involves a shark, the culprits are put behind bars. However, Megamind doesn’t acknowledge Chum’s friendship, loyalty, and steadfast assistance as much as he should and keeps him relegated to the position of a lackey, whereas Chum wants to be his sidekick.
Megamind’s contribution is honored by the people as he is given the key to Metro City, and while covering the news, the city’s most accomplished journalist and Megamind’s love interest, Roxanne Ritchi, feels bummed out considering her unchanged career prospects. At this point, we are introduced to Keiko Morita, a middle schooler and the president of Megamind’s biggest online fanbase community, who tries to take a byte of Roxanne and cheer her up. Keiko wishes to join Megamind in his fight against crime, but her request gets rejected by the protector of Metro City. On the other hand, Chum shares his wish with Roxanne, who encourages him to convey it to Megamind. Unfortunately for Minion, his former supervillain boss is too egotistical to acknowledge his contributions, which leads Minion to part ways to seek better career opportunities. The unexpected separation hurts Megamind, who is surprised to realize that this time Chum’s resolve won’t be shaken as easily.
Who Are The Doom Syndicate Members? What Is Phase Two Of Their Plan?
Megamind’s newfound fame gains attention from his former supervillain team, The Doom Syndicate, who are currently imprisoned. Consisting of generic bad guys like Lady Doppler, the weather manipulator; Pierre Pressure, the master of hypnotism; Behemoth, the hulking fire-rock elemental; and Lord Nighty Knight, an evil warrior mage, the Doom Syndicate had Megamind as a founding member and marked the first step in his supervillain career. Although Megamind later chose to go solo, while being a member of the team, he had planned with the rest of the members to take over Metro City as the first phase of their evil scheme. As for the next part, phase two, it was decided that Metro City would be flown off to the Moon, and Megamind would let the team know the right time to initiate. Seeing Megamind gain the trust of the cityfolk, the Doom Syndicate misinterprets it as part of his evil scheme, and considering it to be the appropriate time to initiate phase two, the band of baddies breaks out of prison.
As Doom Syndicate approaches him and asks questions about his actions, Megamind fears the worst possible outcome if they get to learn about his change of heart. Therefore, for the time being, he decides to play along and requests that Roxanne do the same. The Syndicate goes on a crime spree across Metro City, and while using his brainbots, Megamind tries to salvage the situations behind their backs. He asks Roxanne to inform the mayor about the confusing developments so that Megamind doesn’t get indicted for the crime the Doom Syndicate is committing. Keiko arrives to help Megamind on one occasion to protect his cover, and it is revealed that there is an underlying tension in the Doom Syndicate regarding the role of leadership. Roxanne, on the other hand, informs the mayor about the situation to take preventive measures, but the mayor turns out to be a rather inept and clueless slacker.
In the meantime, the return of the Go Fish Gang almost blows Megamind’s cover, and Roxanne learns the full details about phase two of Doom Syndicate’s plan. Taking her advice, Megamind goes to seek Chum out to acknowledge him as a sidekick and request that he rejoin, but seeing him happy in a new profession, he ultimately changes his mind. He decides to take on the Doom Syndicate on his own and stop them before the worst happens.
How Did Megamind And His Friends Stop The Doom Syndicate?
Eventually, Doom Syndicate learns about the truth, and Megamind manages to entrap them momentarily using brainbots. However, due to faulty machinery, the Brainbots malfunction (which further emphasizes Chum’s importance), and the team breaks free. Badly outnumbered and outmatched, Megamind is thrown out of his own lair, and Doom Syndicate prepares to launch phase two by trying to break into the lair’s control room.
Roxanne and Keiko find a dejected, hapless Megamind in a dingy alley, wallowing in his own misery. In order to motivate him, Keiko shares her experience of being treated as an outsider in younger days and how seeing Megamind turn a new page in his life—not caring about social expectations—had been an inspirational lesson for her. Roxanne helps him to see things from a new perspective, as Megamind admits that he alone cannot face all the challenges thrown at him. Chum overhears Megamind’s honest acknowledgement of his contribution and willingness to take him as his sidekick, and he gladly accepts the proposal of joining Megamind’s team. However, the Doom Syndicate manages to get Metro City airborne, creating a mass panic as a result, and, unable to control the situation, the inept mayor flees. Roxanne helps in systematically directing the emergency responders and police to control the terrible situation. Chum infiltrates Megamind’s lair to take the city back to its original place, and Megamind and Keiko take on the members of the Doom Syndicate one by one. Lack of teamwork and unity results in the Syndicate getting scattered and beaten pretty easily, while Megamind and his new team of Metro City defenders manage to land the city back to its original position—albeit on the wrong side, but the error is negligible. Roxanne’s responsible actions are honored as she is elected as the new mayor of Metro City, and as the movie ends, a Bat-Signal like Megamind-Signal illuminates the night sky of Metro City. The events in the movie act as a premise for the upcoming animated series Megamind Rules, where the new adventures of the defenders of Metro City will unfold.
Who Is Machiavillain?
In a mid-credits scene, the Doom Syndicate are shown to have been put behind bars once again, and like clockwork, their never-ending quarrel about leadership roles kicks off. Suddenly, the prison walls get wrecked in an explosion, and a mysterious voice mentions the team lacking proper guidance. A wary Lady Doppler attacks the mysterious source using her lightning, which is at once deflected back at her. The mysterious speaker turns out to be a disembodied brain and introduces himself as Machiavillain, Megamind’s teacher in villainy, who was presumed dead erstwhile. In the upcoming series, Machiavillain will supposedly serve as the prime antagonist. With the group of baddies getting stronger, who knows, Megamind might take the help of his former arch-nemesis, Metro Man, in the hour of crisis.
