Given that it was written by the same duo that wrote the first Megamind, it’s no surprise that Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate has fingerprints of the charm and humor that made the original a cult film. Unfortunately, they’re too few and far between. Most of Megamind’s sequel is a cliched bore and has so many plot holes in regards to the first film that it’s hard to take this seriously as a proper sequel at all.
In Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate, the previously evil Megamind (Keith Ferguson) is no longer, well, evil. He’s now Metro City’s hero, keeping the citizens safe and stopping villains from committing crimes. When Megamind’s old evil group hears about this in the news, though, they assume Megamind is only pretending to be good and pay him a visit, and so Megamind has to pretend to still be evil, all while thinking of a way to defeat his old villain syndicate.
The continuity errors from the first film are astounding. Not a single character mentions the Doom Syndicate all throughout the original, but Megamind apparently used to be their leader. The syndicate claims they’ve been waiting patiently for a signal from Megamind, but somehow missed the events of the first film when Megamind took over Metro City. This sequel also claims that villains have been popping up since Metroman’s defeat, but the only villains we saw in the first movie were Megamind and Titan, and Metroman was defeated very early on in the film.
Even disregarding the continuity errors, though, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is mostly just a slog to get through. The animation is a serious downgrade from the first film, and aside from one scene in the third act, there are no interesting camera angles or movements, either. That’s largely because, where the first film had all these great action scenes of characters flying or controlling grand contraptions, the Megamind sequel doesn’t actually have much for the characters to do.
Instead, it’s mostly just Megamind doing his best to keep up the illusion of him still being evil, and a predictable subplot of Minion (now called Chum) quitting his work with Megamind and excelling in his new job at a restaurant. The set-up for this sequel feels more like a comedy than the first movie, and yet, the jokes also work a lot less. The majority of them are pretty groan-inducing, especially the ones that get repeated ad nauseam, and the new characters are too one-dimensional to be any fun watching.
There are a few jokes that work here, however, and not just work, but boast traces of the witty writing from the first film. They’re not on the same level, but they do show both screenplays were made by the same hands, which is also evident in the way the returning characters are written.
Megamind, Chum (Josh Brener), and Roxanne (Laura Post) aren’t nearly as fun this time around — and their voice acting isn’t nearly as good, either — but they also don’t seem too far removed from how they were in the first film, and a lot of the jokes that work stem from an understanding of these characters’ personalities.
That said, they’ve also lost a considerable amount of their depth, mostly because they’re not given a lot to do other than try and defeat the Doom Syndicate. Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate also serves as the pilot of the show Megamind Rules!, and because of that, most of the movie feels restricted by the need to set up the foundation of a follow-up property. There can’t be any intriguing character arcs since this is mostly just a glorified prologue, and what it’s setting up isn’t compelling enough to make you want to watch the show.
Whether it be as a pilot of a show or a sequel film, though, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate has little to offer viewers that’s worth watching, especially if you’re a big fan of the first film.
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