Review: Megamind Blu-ray

STUDIO: DreamWorks/Paramount | DIRECTOR: Tom McGrath | VOICE CAST: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, David Cross
RELEASE DATE: 2/25/2011 | PRICE: DVD $29.99, Mega Double Two-Pack DVD $36.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $49.99
BONUSES: deleted scene, commentary, picture-in-picture, featurettes, games, picture galleries
SPECS: PG | 96 min. | Animated family comedy | widescreen enhanced for 16×9 TVs | 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio | English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

Megamind is a funny and action-packed film that has more heart than you might expect when the hero is the villain. Speaking to the little kid in all of us who at one time or another has been laughed at and/or the last one picked for a team, the animated movie is filled with well-known comedy actors bringing the fun characters to life.

Like Steve Carell’s Despicable Me, Will Ferrell’s Megamind is almost unrecognizable as the voice of the Elf star, same with Tina Fey (Date Night) as Roxanne Ritchie and Ben Stiller (Little Fockers) as Bernard. But Jonah Hill (Cyrus) as Hal/Tighten, David Cross (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) as Minion and Brad Pitt (Seven) as Metro Man come through loud and clear. Recognizable or not, all are great in the movie.

As are all these computer-animated films, Megamind looks and sounds fabulous on high-definition. The colors are brilliant, the image sharp and the explosions full.

Like its Shrek releases, DreamWorks has packed the Blu-ray with special features, but some are better than others.

The highlight of the disc (it’s even advertised on the front of the box) is the new animated short “Megamind: The Button of Doom,” but the story in the “Unleash the Reign of Megamind” video comic book is actually better. Set the day after the end of the film, “Button of Doom” is a shorter version of the movie without the love story: Megamind accidentally sets off his most evil contraption (a giant robot controlled by a copy of himself) and then fights it. It’s fun and full of action, but it’s not as good as the movie or the comic.

The video comic shows Megamind going over footage of some of the best fights he had with Metro Man. The dialog is funny and engaging and his evil plans very inventive, all leading up to the beginning of the movie. Having to keep clicking to forward the comic book dialog gets old quickly, and as this is a more entertaining story, it would have made a much better short.

The movie can be played with a trivia track giving fun details about the film, its production and the world in general, or with the Animators’ Corner commentary, which includes picture-in-picture storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

Some of the Animators’ Corner footage is repeated in the few featurettes, including the standard making-of “Meet the Cast,” which includes interviews with producers, animators and such voice cast members as Ferrell and Fey.

The “Inside Megamind’s Lair” and “AnimatorMan” featurettes are interesting, but with a Saturday morning TV-style narrator, they lean toward appealing to younger viewers.

The “Learn to Draw Megamind” piece also is aimed at kids, who will no doubt find it fascinating, but don’t let them get upset if they can’t replicate the character completely. Animator Andy Schuhler doesn’t make it look that easy.

The disc also offers picture galleries, a deleted scene (the “toothbrush scene”), a comic book creator feature and a “Spot the Difference” game, the latter two which kids will enjoy most.

Buy or Rent Megamind
DVD | DVD Two-Pack | Blu-ray/DVD Combo | Instant Video	DVD | DVD Two-Pack | Blu-ray/DVD Combo	DVD | DVD Two-Pack | Blu-ray/DVD Combo