Fangirl alert - Megamind!
Tonight I went to *gasp* an actual movie theater to see the latest Dreamworks animated feature, Megamind.
It was so freaking adorable, funny, dorky, and fun! I loved it to bits!
The plot was predictable in some regards, but they still pulled a few twists and turns. I'm not a big fan of the superhero genre but I know enough to "get" the in-jokes and cliches, and supervillains are always fun (especially if they aren't so sure they want to be supervillains...)
I watched it in a regular theater, not the 3-D kind, because 3-D gives me a horrendous headache, but the visuals were crisp and whimsical.
The all-star cast did a great job. I love Tina Fey, and although I also like Will Ferrell I actually forgot it was him after awhile. He wasn't doing his stereotypical SNL character here, which worked very well.
The humor wasn't the hysterically-laugh-yourself-to-tears kind, more like frequent grins and periodic giggles (with a few hearty guffaws), but I enjoyed that aspect as well. Overall, it was more sweet and silly than edgy and snarky. I expected it to be slightly more focused on zany humor than character development, and, although I was wrong, I'm glad I was, because it was a really enjoyable movie.
Oh, and I'm fangirling the title character, like, whoa. (Me? Fangirl a rascally, quasi-villainous character with a sense of humor? Shocker!!!)
But the best part of the whole thing? Minion the talking space fish! Now I have this urge to fashion a robot suit for my own fish so they can follow me around assisting with all my evil schemes for world domination daily chores. XD Bwahahahahaha!
If I had to sum up Megamind in two words, I'd say: "adorable" and "fun".
It's rather scary, though, how before I even peeked into the budding fandom, I could already imagine what I'd see: shipping, Mary Sues, fanfic cliches, internet memes, the works. I know the internet all too well... ;)
And, oh, fandom, you didn't disappoint me. Within ten minutes at DeviantArt, I found all I expected and more.
Fangirls drawing themselves glomping and/or kissing Megamind? Check.
Faux motivational posters and internet memes made with screenshots? Check.
Original female characters to replace Roxanne as Megamind's One Twu Wuv? Check.
Slash between two main male characters? Check.
Kidnapped Roxie trussed up in some bondage gear? Check.
Other random blue aliens who also somehow survived the black hole? Check.
Poorly-drawn anime-style fanart done on the back of someone's homework? Check.
Crossovers with other fandoms, some similar and some not? Check.
Superpukeykyoot chibi version of the title character? Check.
Title character posing in nothing but a Speedo? Check.
Title character as the opposite gender? Check.
Title character as a random furry animal? Check.
Oh, fandoms. I both love and fear you at the same time.
The fanart I did NOT see, which I expected and tried to imagine myself, is what the heck Megamind and Roxanne's kids would look like... LOL!
I have to say, though, their relationship was developed better than many animated romances. Half the time in Disney classics it's like "Ooh, we made eye contact, we are now destined to be together!" The dating scenes here, especially in the park, were really sweet and allowed the characters to develop a connection with each other in a more believable way than just "Oh look, there's a member of the opposite sex who's also a major character. We must end up together!" Which makes sense, actually, since there was that whole "the bad guy never gets the girl" theme running through the movie. It's never that simple, and the Megamind/Roxanne romance proved that.
I was also glad they specified that Roxanne and Metro Man were never an item, despite the rumors. I'm always leery of plots that set up the female character as being romantically linked to every male she comes into contact with.
Jaina has that problem in the Warcraft universe, and it gets tiresome reminding people that Arthas is actually the only character she was romantically linked to in canon. Her reputation as the fandom bicycle really isn't fair, since she never liked Kael'thas that way, and the Thrall thing is just fanon.
Anyway, I didn't like the idea of Roxanne coming out of a relationship with Mega Man, spurning Hal, and then falling for Megamind, all in one plot arc. So I'm glad they wrote it the way they did. ;)
I was also glad that they didn't make Metro Man into a huge jerk. It would have been easy to do so, to drive home the role reversal. One of the main themes of the film is, after all, the gray areas between good and evil, and the fluidity of such labels.
It was so freaking adorable, funny, dorky, and fun! I loved it to bits!
The plot was predictable in some regards, but they still pulled a few twists and turns. I'm not a big fan of the superhero genre but I know enough to "get" the in-jokes and cliches, and supervillains are always fun (especially if they aren't so sure they want to be supervillains...)
I watched it in a regular theater, not the 3-D kind, because 3-D gives me a horrendous headache, but the visuals were crisp and whimsical.
The all-star cast did a great job. I love Tina Fey, and although I also like Will Ferrell I actually forgot it was him after awhile. He wasn't doing his stereotypical SNL character here, which worked very well.
The humor wasn't the hysterically-laugh-yourself-to-tears kind, more like frequent grins and periodic giggles (with a few hearty guffaws), but I enjoyed that aspect as well. Overall, it was more sweet and silly than edgy and snarky. I expected it to be slightly more focused on zany humor than character development, and, although I was wrong, I'm glad I was, because it was a really enjoyable movie.
Oh, and I'm fangirling the title character, like, whoa. (Me? Fangirl a rascally, quasi-villainous character with a sense of humor? Shocker!!!)
But the best part of the whole thing? Minion the talking space fish! Now I have this urge to fashion a robot suit for my own fish so they can follow me around assisting with all my evil schemes for world domination daily chores. XD Bwahahahahaha!
If I had to sum up Megamind in two words, I'd say: "adorable" and "fun".
It's rather scary, though, how before I even peeked into the budding fandom, I could already imagine what I'd see: shipping, Mary Sues, fanfic cliches, internet memes, the works. I know the internet all too well... ;)
And, oh, fandom, you didn't disappoint me. Within ten minutes at DeviantArt, I found all I expected and more.
Fangirls drawing themselves glomping and/or kissing Megamind? Check.
Faux motivational posters and internet memes made with screenshots? Check.
Original female characters to replace Roxanne as Megamind's One Twu Wuv? Check.
Slash between two main male characters? Check.
Kidnapped Roxie trussed up in some bondage gear? Check.
Other random blue aliens who also somehow survived the black hole? Check.
Poorly-drawn anime-style fanart done on the back of someone's homework? Check.
Crossovers with other fandoms, some similar and some not? Check.
Superpukeykyoot chibi version of the title character? Check.
Title character posing in nothing but a Speedo? Check.
Title character as the opposite gender? Check.
Title character as a random furry animal? Check.
Oh, fandoms. I both love and fear you at the same time.
The fanart I did NOT see, which I expected and tried to imagine myself, is what the heck Megamind and Roxanne's kids would look like... LOL!
I have to say, though, their relationship was developed better than many animated romances. Half the time in Disney classics it's like "Ooh, we made eye contact, we are now destined to be together!" The dating scenes here, especially in the park, were really sweet and allowed the characters to develop a connection with each other in a more believable way than just "Oh look, there's a member of the opposite sex who's also a major character. We must end up together!" Which makes sense, actually, since there was that whole "the bad guy never gets the girl" theme running through the movie. It's never that simple, and the Megamind/Roxanne romance proved that.
I was also glad they specified that Roxanne and Metro Man were never an item, despite the rumors. I'm always leery of plots that set up the female character as being romantically linked to every male she comes into contact with.
Jaina has that problem in the Warcraft universe, and it gets tiresome reminding people that Arthas is actually the only character she was romantically linked to in canon. Her reputation as the fandom bicycle really isn't fair, since she never liked Kael'thas that way, and the Thrall thing is just fanon.
Anyway, I didn't like the idea of Roxanne coming out of a relationship with Mega Man, spurning Hal, and then falling for Megamind, all in one plot arc. So I'm glad they wrote it the way they did. ;)
I was also glad that they didn't make Metro Man into a huge jerk. It would have been easy to do so, to drive home the role reversal. One of the main themes of the film is, after all, the gray areas between good and evil, and the fluidity of such labels.