DreamWorks released Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate via Peacock on Mar. 9, as a sequel to their popular film Megamind (2010). The initial trailers and teasers in February received harsh criticism. These complaints were not groundless, only rising in harshness and quantity when the film finally released. As of Apr. 12, 2024, Megamind has a 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the sequel has a 6%, the worst of any DreamWorks movie on the website.
Megamind was popularized for its animation, choice of actors, unique humor, and general compelling nature, staying extremely popular on the internet for years to come. The movie became the subject of many jokes, memes, and quotes with young people on the internet, most famously the “Megamind peeking” (through a peephole) meme. This created great expectations for the sequel, which ended up being destroyed by the trailers and the release itself.
There are three things people generally mention when referring to the movie’s negatives: its strange plot, unnecessary character changes, and TV show-esque animation. The story takes place just a few days after the end of the first film, with Megamind being praised for his successful hero work. However, a group of villains known as the Doom Syndicate, a group Megamind used to lead, escape from prison in hopes of ruling Metro City with Megamind’s help. They think Megamind’s hero work is a simple facade to trick the citizens of Metro City so Megamind can easily take over the city once the Doom Syndicate returns. Megamind is faced with the great challenge of maintaining his hero status while a team of villains expect him to take over the city that just recently began praising him. This became greatly criticized as Megamind never mentioned a “Doom Syndicate” in his past; the original movie began with telling Megamind’s origin story which focused entirely on his jealousy of Metro Man.
Not to mention, every new villain in the sequel was very corny in appearance, being more thematic and silly rather than menacing or powerful like Titan/Tighten in the original movie. These new villains include a team of powerless robbers dressed in fish costumes (the Go Fish Gang), an ex-news anchor with weather powers (Lady Doppler), a mime with powers of hypnosis (Pierre Pressure), a dark knight with a soft side (Lord Knighty-Night), and a dimwitted magma-colored rock monster (Behemoth), the latter four being the Doom Syndicate.
Many also criticize the movie for how (ironically) unintelligent Megamind is, in that he does not know how to take down the Doom Syndicate, when he could do that very easily with one of his iconic, powerful weapons: the Dehydration Gun. This popularized the online phrase, “Shoot them with the Dehydration Gun,” poking fun at the movie’s easily solvable conflict.
There were also quite a few unnecessary and upsetting character changes that confused the sequel’s audience (or lack thereof). For starters, Megamind’s sidekick Minion had his name changed to “Ol’ Chum,” meaning “old friend.” Not only that, but none of the famous actors in Megamind returned to voice for the sequel. Megamind’s personality was even “flanderized” to that of a vain dimwit.
“From the few minutes I saw, I kind of got the gist of what the movie was going to be like; they had a lot to live up to and they did not live up to it at all,” sophomore Dominic Barrett said. “That intro was so terrible, the animation itself was so poorly done. It looks like one of those Disney kids TV shows. The cast itself was just not good. The budget they [had] was too small. They should have had a different director. It would have made more sense as a show. I’m going to give it a 1/10, and I think that’s a valid [rating].”
Lastly, many criticize the movie’s animation due to its lack of beautiful shadowing and dramatic scenery that Megamind had. The sequel shows clips from the original movie, highlighting a drastic change in quality which some compare to that of older, educational CGI works like Veggietales. This is most evident in the first few minutes of the movie, when Megamind is explaining the story of the original movie using clips from it, highlighting the dramatic change in animation quality.
Sequels have always been a highly debated topic in countless media communities, but Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is one of those terrible, soulless, lifeless examples. Sequels and series aren’t anything new to DreamWorks either, as they’ve produced great sequels for series such as Puss In Boots, Kung Fu Panda, and How To Train Your Dragon; even their highest grossing film is a sequel: Shrek 2. Seeing such an abysmal performance on such a long awaited sequel, from such a professional company, is a shock, to be sure, at the very least.
