REVIEW: ‘Megamind Vs. The Doom Syndicate’ Is 10 Years Too Late

It’s been 14 years since Dreamworks’s least successful film of the 2010s, Megamind, hit theaters. Typically, poor box office performance spells doom for an animated film series. However, in the early days of the superhero movie craze, Megamind defied expectations. The film would go on to garner a cult following through the power of the internet. When you have a devoted fan base, the last thing you want to do is let them down. Unfortunately, that’s precisely what Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate does. The original film offered a clever take on the superhero genre with its heart and colorful characters, under Eric Fogel‘s direction, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate feels more like a drawn-out trailer for Peacocks’s new animated series based on the franchise.

Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate continues the journey of Megamind, an intelligent alien supervillain. After defeating his nemesis Metro Man, Megamind creates a new hero to fight. However, he must step in to save the city when his creation becomes an even greater threat. Just two days after the events of the first movie, Megamind’s ego is as inflated as ever. Within minutes of the opening, you can see that this is going to be a rough ride.

Megamind returns to belittling his sidekick Ol’ Chum’s (formerly Minion) contributions, reminiscent of every boss who undervalues their employees’ efforts. This leaves Ol’ Chum feeling unappreciated prompting him to strike out on his own after being denied a promotion to sidekick by Megamind. Meanwhile, Roxanne Ritchi, feeling stagnant in her career, is inspired to do more after meeting Keiko Morita (Maya Aoki Tuttle), the Megamind fan club president. Despite helping Megamind save the city, Roxanne somehow feels inadequate next to a middle schooler with a large social media following. It’s jarring how quickly these characters regress after the progress after only two days since the events of the first film.

Megamind’s former villain colleagues, Lady Doppler (Emily Tunon), Lord Nighty-Knight (Talon Warburton), Pierre Pressure (Scott Adsit), and Behemoth (Chris Sullivan) doubt his transformation into a hero. As the former leader of the Doom Syndicate, they believe this is just the next step in Megamind’s grand schemes. When they confront Megamind about it, plot details emerge that a younger viewer likely won’t care about. Meanwhile, adults who watched the original years ago will likely scratch their heads at the dialogue and character choices.

Roxanne finds it surprising that Megamind has connections to other villains. She acts as if she is still learning new things about Megamind. All of this despite the fact that it hasn’t been two days since they saved the city. Further, in an attempt to build tension, it is revealed that Lady Doppler and Roxanne Ritchi know each other, leaving Lady Doppler as the only one who is suspicious of Megamind’s true intentions.

Instead of standing up to his former colleagues, Megamind continues to play along as the Doom Syndicate. The villains want to go on a crime spree before enacting Phase 2 of their master plan, which looks to transport Metro City to the moon. This is difficult for Megamind as he has changed his mind on the villain lifestyle. It’s harder still now that he is alone without Chum there to help him. This prompts Megamind’s character journey of learning how to ask for help to defeat the villains. It’s surface level compared to the depths the original Megamind reached when subverting expectations about what a superhero movie can look like.

The movie attempts to reach those same depths but never quite meets the mark. Ol’ Chum, as much as Megamind, goes through his own journey. The former minion looks to find an understanding of his worth separate from Megamind. However, since his character is largely sidelined to work at a donut shop, that is never really explored. Instead, we get a “woe-is-me” style attitude throughout, with Megamind having to solve the problems he created. As the film progresses it makes him more and more unlikable. It walks back on his growth since defeating Tighten in the first film. It makes me wonder who this movie was for. As it is it’s little more than a glorified promotion for the continuation television series.

What’s most disappointing is that Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate doesn’t capitalize on its voice cast. In addition to the Doom Syndicate, Keith Ferguson as Megamind, Laura Post as Roxanne Ritchi, and Josh Brener as Ol’ Chum do their best to salvage a lackluster script that is more focused on puns and jokes than any real commentary. Voice actor changes are nothing new for animations that follow the first films. Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon have had very successful animation runs following their film releases without using the original voice cast. For the most part, this movie is passable in this department and not the distraction I thought it would be without Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and David Cross’s recognizable voices.

Despite this, the plot tries to introduce characters that are the main focus of the television series. Unfortunately, this makes all the dialogue very surface-level with so many new faces. Further, the film never pays off on the career existential crisis commentary that the film began with. I came in hoping for the same kind of clever plot with the subversion of expectations that made Megamind a fan favorite. Instead, it lands as a content farm on an established IP. The result is a lifeless follow-up.

While the villains are colorful and the Keiko Morita introduction is a great way to bring in a younger audience, none of these characters get a chance to shine or grow. At least, not in this film as viewers are expected to hit play on Megamind Rules! directly after the credits roll on Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate. This is painfully evident when the end credits song is the opening of the television series. While Megamind learning how to be a hero while battling villains as a concept for the series makes sense, it is lazy and disingenuous of Dreamworks to have this project be just a glorified hour-and-a-half trailer for the show.

Ultimately, Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate plays like a surface-level made-for-television movie. The goal is clearly to transition viewers over to the franchise’s new animated series. While this approach has worked for Dreamworks in the past, this time they are ten years too late to capitalize on the following Megamind has. While the film boasts a strong cast, there is a clear lack of depth in the plot. This leaves it disconnected from all the things that made the original so great. In a time with so many great animated films and series of new IPs, spend your time with those and skip Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate.

Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is streaming exclusively on Peacock.