You call THIS predictable?

I have to say YES for that question...well, at least up till first half of the movie. Megamind is Dreamworks' latest animated movie, and since the Shrek series have been totally running out of ideas, they have been trying to establish new ideas (Kungfu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon were the successful ones, while the rest either they are mediocre, or just decent). Enter Megamind (Will Ferrell), which follows the story of a blue big headed alien, who has been destined to be evil minded since he was a kid, a contradiction with its fellow alien, Metroman (Brad Pitt), who happens to be the famous superhero, guardian of Metro City. Thanks to his genius and determination, the rivalry between good and evil has been the headlines for some time, with the blue side always be the loser one. But then, things change dramatically, when finally he defeats Metroman in the early part of the film, he realizes that without any 'good side', his life has become....meaningless.

The positive thing about Megamind, is that they are trying to be better than Pixar, since I've seen Dreamworks has been trying that. In short, Megamind is a good family movie, brings out positive message to kids, and it's fun, that's all. Sometimes, a good and fun kids' movie, is just a good and fun kids' move, and that's all it needs to be. It's a good thing they don't try to over-complicate things, and with just a plot twist in the middle, it has already delivered some refreshing story afterwards.

Actually, the 1st half of the movie has been summarized just by watching the trailer. In short, it was kinda lame, bit boring, and the lines were not that funny (kinda crispy). 1st half of the movie just justified my opinion, that I dislike Will Ferrell even more. I slept in some parts, and usually, it means the movie was very bad (reminds me of Monster and Aliens). Thankfully, the 2nd half of the movie was able to rescue the earlier horrendous plot (which I won't spoil anything). In my opinion, with a little rewrite, and perhaps some better lines, Megamind can still go far ahead compared to the current version. What I felt is that it has too few characters to show, the city is a bit lifeless, and some of the scenes are quite predictable, but hey, it's a kid's movie after all.

Most of the time, I always feel quite skeptical toward animation movie which uses lots of A-list actors, and this one doesn't escape from that treatment. But luckily, they are the reason what is stopping Megamind from crashing. They are funny, and they deliver their jokes and one-liners convincingly. While Ferrel is already used to this kind of role, Brad Pitt is a surprise addition (he did a pretty good job though), Tina Fey as Roxanne, the journalist and love interest, has the best performance, while Jonah Hill, is being...well...Jonah Hill. It's quite rare to see these A-list actors can somehow bring all their characters with their own textures without the need to let us know something like, "Hey, this is the voice of a famous actor" or whatsoever. The funniest moment comes when Ferrell tried to impersonate a very famous 'Godfather', damn, it he did it smoothly.

The animation was okay, perhaps not a top notch quality, but the final battle scene really pushed up the 3D and make use of it extensively. Somehow the 3D can blend it to the story line without making any distraction. My only complaint is that it takes time for us to get used to see Megamind as a likeable character, since I felt his animation is a bit underwhelming (well, I can't imagine kids want to buy the doll and give him a hug)

In the end, Megamind has the humor, heart, story, some originality and awesomeness. It delivers what it has to deliver, which is entertaining. Although I was very annoyed in the beginning, the end result pays well. I thought it's just another superhero movie, but turns out it's more than that. When it's funny, it's brings lots of laughters, but when it's serious, it shows the heart, so I guess it's a good balance after all. It may have some similarities with Despicable Me, which centers on an arch-villain who sees the error of his ways. Overall, Megamind is snappy good fun.

My Rating : 7.5/10

Don't Kill...Learn !!!

I was utterly disappointed with Dreamworks last year, whereas their 2008 biggest hit, "Kungfu Panda", left a good notion that actually this studio could make good animation, until the terrible "Monster and Aliens" and "Madagascar 2" came out, and after I watched the dreadful "Shrek 4" trailer, I guess this studio produces shits. Imagine my growing skepticism when I heard they are planning to release "How to Train Your Dragon", which left me an impression...what a douche title!

But, this time, Dreamworks makes me swallowed my own words. It appears this flick is not just a very good movie indeed, but also has topped "Kungfu Panda" in every department. You have a good story line, suitable also for adults, good moral lessons for youngsters, a nice family relationships, and without giving any spoiler, a very rare and unique ending for an animation movie, which I haven't seen for quite a while, even Pixar haven't picked this up.

Loosey based on the 2003 book with same title, the story was dated back in the village of Berg during the Viking years, where they are in the middle of dragon wars led by the mighty Stoick (Gerard Butler). It appears that all the males in the region are mighty and bulky warriors, with one exception, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel). For starter, he doesn't even look like a Viking, sorta kind of a nerdy, no physical appearance at all, not to mention he's also a cowardice type. While he's trying to impress his father, he accidentally captured a very unique black dragon, which he intends to finish it off to show his worth to be a Viking. But, as cowardice is in his blood already, he just couldn't do it. On the contrary, he made a bond with the dragon in a way that they were becoming more than friends. Hiccup and Toothless (you'll know why he named him that way) became inseparable, even in the middle of his training as dragon slayer where he learnt all the tricks of taming a dragon from Toothless himself. But apparently, things were getting messier when Stoick found out that his son actually kept a dragon as a pet, which placed Hiccup in the position that he has to choose side.

On the skin, this resembles "Eragon" a bit, although "How to Train Your Dragon" is much well crafted. As I mentioned before, the richness in the story line does not only make the kids enjoy it, but also makes it a well made family movie. Even I think the action scenes and the dragon riding thrill is on par with Avatar, or maybe much more spectacular especially in final battle scenes. Another plus thing is the jokes and funny moments, which are fresh, not cheesy or cheap lines, especially on how Hiccup attempts to tame Toothless (the fish scene was just so hilarious!).

In term of graphic, Dreamworks really propelled their renderings into a better quality. The forest and mountain scenery are nicely done, gave a realistic impression. They also did a great job on various dragon types, along with each characteristics.

The voice over casts also do a splendid job bringing the main characters into life. I guess this is the first time Dreamworks doesn't use too many high profile voice overs, only Gerard Butler is the notable A-Star cast on the list, while the main character Baruchel as Hiccup is reasonably unknown, others are just good enough, such as Craig Ferguson as Gobber, Hiccup trainer, and America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) as the ambitious Astrid which thinks Hiccup is her main competitor to be the best dragon slayer. Jonah Hill and Kirsten Wiig although limited, have played their part adequately.

To conclude, "How To Train Your Dragon" is a swift adventure movie, with a suprising dramatic depth. Kids will love it, adults will enjoy it, perfect for the whole house. It has the best animated scenes, maybe on the same level with Pixar's "Up". Last but not least, I believe this is one of the those movies which is worth watching on 3-D, but again, it's the story and the characters which kept me on my seat and enjoy the movie, not the graphic enhancements.

My Rating : 9/10