Fourteen years after DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind premiered in theaters, the titular character is back in a straight-to-streaming sequel titled Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate. Ever since the studio decided not to follow the original film up with a theatrical sequel due to mild box office results, 2010’s Megamind has gained somewhat of a cult following among those who grew up with it. However, excited fans might want to hold their breath because this sequel struggles to justify why audiences need to be brought back to Metro City after over a decade. With a character as fun as Megamind, it’s easy to see that this project only exists because a streaming platform needs to take advantage of the intellectual property it possesses rather than the motivation to tell an exciting story.
Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate takes place right after the original movie but sees veteran voice actor Keith Ferguson take on the titular role over the iconic Will Ferrell. Megamind is still getting used to being a nice person after defeating Tighten (Jonah Hill), which makes for bad timing when his former evil teammates — the ones whom he used to lead in the Doom Syndicate — escape from prison. The villains still think Megamind is the extravagantly sinister leader they remember, forcing the blue hero to pretend to be a criminal as he comes up with a way to stop their ridiculous plan of launching Metro City to the Moon. The Doom Syndicate are the only characters in the whole film who seem like they are actually trying to be funny, with the rest of the sequel feeling lazy and predictable.
Director Eric Fogel, best known for cult animated shows like MTV’s Celebrity Death Match and Glenn Martin, DDS, seems like he had his hands tied with this project. This comes as a huge surprise given that original Megamind writers Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons returned to write the script. But, again, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate seems to merely exist for the sake of establishing precious IP for NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service. Going back to what does work in this sequel, Megamind’s former villain team is made up of Lady Doppler (Emily Tunon), Lord Nighty-Knight (Talon Warburton), Behemoth (Chris Sullivan), and Pierre Pressure (Scott Adsit). Out of them all, though, Lord Nighty-Knight is the one who truly captures the creativity of DreamWork Animation’s glory days.
With a good dose of deadpan humor, physical comedy, and an inability to fully understand what’s happening around him, Lord Nighty-Knight appears in every sincerely funny moment that can be found in Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate — and there aren’t many. Voice actress Laura Post takes over the role of Roxanne Ritchi from Tina Fey, but the sequel does nothing with the character’s romantic relationship with Megamind besides teasing it a bit more. Everyone keeps mentioning how the former villain and the journalist have tangible romantic tension flowing between them, yet the film doesn’t make an actual effort to show it. This is just one of the factors that makes Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate feel detached from its predecessor, making it seem as if the sequel doesn’t even care about the events of the first film.
Another subplot from the sequel follows Ol’ Chum, the assistant formerly known as Minion who is now voiced by Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) taking over for David Cross. While the character’s new name comes from a humorous in-universe copyright strike, it has no real value, possibly perplexing audiences as to why this character who was established more than a decade ago suddenly has a different name. The sidekick doesn’t feel valued at Megamind’s side, but even so, the pressing matter of the Doom Syndicate’s evil plan takes attention away from Ol’ Chum and his subplot. Very little of what fans enjoyed about the first movie can be found here, so what’s the point of returning to Metro City?
As a Peacock original, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate only functions as a long pilot for the Megamind Rules! sequel series that is premiering alongside it. And much like the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, it plays like three or four television episodes crammed together with a glue stick. While it used to be more common for major animated films to have straight-to-video sequels that also served as the pilots for TV shows (think Stitch! The Movie), at least some of them managed to tell a solid story that piqued your interest in watching the series that followed. Megamind went through a very personal journey in director Tom McGrath’s original film, and the fact that this sequel doesn’t even try to capture the same kind of magic or spirit as its predecessor makes it feel like both installments aren’t part of the same franchise.
Megamind had the potential for so much more, even if the titular character’s second story was always destined to be released on a streaming platform. Instead of continuing to explore why the protagonist decided to become a hero in the first place, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate patronizes its young audience, almost daring to assume that today’s kids wouldn’t enjoy the humor and storytelling that elevated DreamWorks Animation in the first place. Whereas Puss in Boots gets to have both a streaming series made for children (The Adventures of Puss in Boots) and a widely imaginative sequel in theaters (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Megamind has to sadly settle for less.
In the end, you could say that Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate is a movie aimed at children, which is true. But that fact doesn’t point towards the sequel not delivering the level of quality storytelling that younger viewers would enjoy, especially if this film’s purpose is to get kids to want to watch the Megamind Rules! animated series. This new Megamind installment feels very separated from the original, and it doesn’t hold many fresh ideas of its own to consider judging it in a different light. It’s only Megamind in name. The villain-turned-hero would have been better off with one movie, with audiences simply imagining what he was up to after he saved the day. Unfortunately, there isn’t a hero powerful enough to save Megamind from corporate synergy.
Release Date: March 1, 2024.
Directed by Eric Fogel.
Written by Alan Schoolcraft & Brent Simons.
Main Cast: Keith Ferguson, Laura Post, Josh Brener, Maya Aoki Tuttle, Emily Tunon, Talon Warburton, Scott Adsit, Chris Sullivan, Tony Hale, Jeanine Mason, & Adam Lambert.
Composers: Matthew Janszen & Bryan Winslow.
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation Television.
Streaming Service: Peacock.
Runtime: 83 minutes.
Rated: TV-G.
