MEGAMIND flies onto Blu-ray and DVD on FRIDAY, February 25, 2011, giving audiences of all ages even more diabolical fun and surprises they didn't see in theaters. Packed with laughs, epic comic book action and non-stop adventure, the thoroughly entertaining and refreshingly original story has been hailed by critics as "mind-boggling fun" (Boston Herald) and features the voice talent of mega-stars Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, David Cross and Jonah Hill. The "beautifully animated" and "utterly delightful film" (Washington Post) kicks off a Mega-weekend with the debut of an all-new action-comedy starring fan-favorite characters Megamind and Minion. Featuring members of the original voice cast, MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM follows our daring duo on their first day on the job as the new protectors of Metro City.

MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM will be available for a limited time only in a Double DVD Pack and in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack. The Double DVD Pack also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the cast, a peek into Megamind's lair, filmmaker commentary, a tutorial on drawing Megamind, a video comic book and much more. The Blu-ray/DVD Combo includes exclusive features such as The Animators' Corner featuring picture-in-picture storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage and insightful interviews, as well as pop-up trivia, a comic creator and more. Offering tremendous value and hours of entertainment for the whole family, the Double DVD Pack and Blu-ray/DVD Combo will be available as low as $19.99 and $24.99 respectively.

MEGAMIND Synopsis:

Packed with high-flying action and non-stop laughs, DreamWorks Animation's MEGAMIND puts a whole new hilarious twist on the superhero movie. Super villain Megamind's (Will Ferrell) dreams have come true when he captures the damsel in no distress (Tina Fey) and conquers the city's protector Metro Man (Brad Pitt), gaining control of Metro City. But when a new villain (Jonah Hill) is created and chaos runs rampant, the world's biggest "mind" and his comic sidekick Minion (David Cross) might actually be the ones to save the day.

MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM Synopsis:

For their first day on the job as the new protectors of Metro City, Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Minion (David Cross) are selling off the gadgets from their evil lair. But when one seemingly harmless "button" unleashes the gigantic robot MEGA-MEGAmind, the duo will have to resort to their old tricks to restore order in this all-new action-comedy from DreamWorks Animation.

DreamWorks Animation's MEGAMIND Double DVD Pack

The MEGAMIND Double DVD Pack delivers more out-of-this-world fun with bonus features including the following:

Disc 1:
MEGAMIND
Plus:
Meet the Cast of MEGAMIND
Deleted Scene
Filmmakers' Commentary
Previews
World of DreamWorks Animation: Fun-filled looks into the worlds of Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar

Disc 2:
MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM – The brand new adventure featuring members of the original voice cast
Plus:
Inside Megamind's Lair
AnimatorMan
You Can Draw Megamind
Mega Rap
The Reign of Megamind—Video Comic Book
Spot The Difference
Minion's Zone (DVD Rom):
Printables
Links

DreamWorks Animation's MEGAMIND Blu-ray/DVD Combo

Blu-Ray:

MEGAMIND
MEGAMIND: THE BUTTON OF DOOM – The brand new adventure featuring members of the original voice cast
Plus:
Exclusive Blu-ray Features:
The Animators' Corner
Trivia Track
Comic Creator
Behind the Mind

Additional Bonus Features:

Meet the Cast of MEGAMIND
Deleted Scene
Inside Megamind's Lair
AnimatorMan
You Can Draw Megamind
Mega Rap
The Reign of Megamind—Video Comic Book
Spot the Difference
Filmmakers' Commentary
Previews
World of DreamWorks Animation: Fun-filled looks into the worlds of Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar

DVD:

MEGAMIND
Meet the Cast of MEGAMIND
Deleted Scene
Filmmakers' Commentary
Previews
World of DreamWorks Animation: Fun-filled looks into the worlds of Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar

DreamWorks Animation's MEGAMIND DVD

The single-disc DVD includes the following:

MEGAMIND

Meet the Cast of MEGAMIND
Deleted Scene
Filmmakers' Commentary
Previews
World of DreamWorks Animation: Fun-filled looks into the worlds of Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar

“Megamind” was the kind of movie I expected “Despicable Me” to be when I walked into the theater; a DreamWorks Animation film. It soon turned out that “Despicable Me” was actually a Universal Picture and not from DreamWorks. Since I have been so addicted to and in love with the computer animated epics from Pixar, I felt it was time to see how the other studios compared (if at all). For once, I would be seeing a DreamWorks animated movie without “Shrek” in the title.

But “Despicable Me” and “Megamind” do have one thing in common in that their main character is a villain, one who looks to get the most press for his devious accomplishments. The latter is set around an interesting question: what if the bad guy actually ended up defeating the hero? What would happen then? Whether or not that person works as a banker on Wall Street is beside the point. The villain finds that having all the power he desires doesn’t compare to the struggle of getting it in the first place.

The movie has a great start as it satirizes “Superman” in showing how Megamind himself (voiced by Will Ferrell) is put in a rocket by his parents and sent away to a world that isn’t on the verge of dying. Along the way, his spaceship comes into contact with another whose occupant is goody two shoes Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt) who ends up throwing Megamind off course to another destination on Earth. While Metro Man ends up crashing into the home of a loving well to do family, Megamind lands inside a maximum security prison and right in front of hardened inmates. Being that this is a movie for the whole family, we never see this villain in an HBO “Oz” setting or bending over for the soap.

From there, it’s a battle of wits and smarts between Metro Man and Megamind whose resentment from childhood remains unabated. But what I thought was going to be an average movie about good guys versus bad guys really surprised me in the direction it ended up taking. It’s really about Megamind getting exactly what he wants, and soon become bored because there is no one left to fight. Where he goes from there just might surprise you (I strongly stress the word “might”).

What works to the film’s advantage is how knowledgeable it is of the superhero movies we grew up with, namely “Superman.” It gleefully plays around with the superhero’s ego and how it typically gets the best of him, and of how the villain’s evil plans are no longer as scary as they are intended to be. It even gets to where TV reporter Roxanne Ritchi (voiced by Tina Fey) is actually rolling her eyes at Megamind’s threat to drop her into a watery hole with alligators (or are they crocodiles?). Once the movie does take an unexpected left turn, the story does get kind of conventional, but it becomes something that it wasn’t really advertised as.

I have to give Will Ferrell a lot of credit here because he usually just plays the same character over and over in each film he does. When it works like in movies such like “The Other Guys,” its no big deal because we are too busy laughing our asses off. But in “Megamind,” I actually forgot that it was Will Ferrell doing the voice after awhile. That’s saying a lot because his voice is so recognizable after all those years on “Saturday Night Live.” Here, we see and hear a specific character more than the man who gave us the most memorable impersonation of George W. Bush. It also probably helps that Megamind doesn’t look all that much like Ferrell, and that would still be the case if his skin weren’t so blue.

Other celebrity voices featured in “Megamind” include Brad Pitt’s who is a big hoot as the Superman-like Metro Man. Brad’s voice perfectly exudes self-confidence as he has the whole world at his feet, and it’s a great satirical take on the overbearing ego that superheroes have at their disposal and which can easily turn on them if they’re not careful. Listening to him made me wonder how much time he actually spent in the studio recording the dialogue. My guess is about one to two weeks, maybe a month. This must have been one of the easiest jobs for him.

Tina Fey brings her usual perky voice to the role as Roxanne Ritchi, and her sarcastic bite is always a lot of fun to take in. Jonah Hill, fresh off of “Get Him To The Greek” and “Cyrus,” is picture perfect as Roxanne’s cameraman Hal, who of course has the biggest crush on her which remains unrequited like most crushes are. When his heart gets shattered, he ends up doing what most guys do; destroy things at random. It actually took a bit to recognize his voice, but the hilarious David Cross is an inspired piece of casting as the voice of Minion, the henchman (or hench-fish) to Megamind and his devious plans. Other actors featured here are J.K. Simmons who voiced the Warden, Ben Stiller as Bernard, and Justin Theroux as Megamind’s father. Those last three voices I didn’t even recognize until I saw their names in the end credits (or for that matter, IMDB).

I did see “Megamind” in 3D, and the filmmakers actually made really good use of the format. It really gave more excitement to certain scenes like when the characters are on the top of very tall buildings, and I almost got a strong sense of vertigo. Ok, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit in saying that, but it’s still on my mind long after having sat through it. The technology of 3D has truly advanced to being beyond just a mere gimmick, but Hollywood has been abusing it for the extra profit to where the use of it becomes pointless. “Megamind” turns out to be one of the best examples of 3D I have seen this year, and for once I didn’t mind spending an extra couple bucks.

Directing “Megamind” is Tom McGrath who was also responsible for one of several DreamWorks animated movies I have not yet seen, “Madagascar.” I liked a lot of the stuff he came up with here visually. While the animation might not be on the same level as in Pixar movies, there is still a lot of attention put into the detail that’s very impressive. This is especially the case when taking into account the design of the city featured as it looks quite realistic in hindsight. There’s also that little dig at the iconic Obama poster which also made for a good laugh.

Look, it’s not like I expected “Megamind” to be bad or at best a decent times at the movies, but it turned out to be far better than I expected it to be. Like the best Pixar movies, it works as great entertainment not just for kids but for adults as well. It’s a clever take on superheroes, and that makes it one of the more entertaining movies of the 2010 fall season. DreamWorks Animation may still be in the shadow of Pixar, but this shows that they are moving up their game some, and it looks like they may start making more than mere products for consumption.

***½ out of ****