Four out of Five stars
Running time: 96 mins

Hugely enjoyable, brilliantly funny comedy with superb animation, terrific vocal performances and a witty script that's packed with great gags and a multitude of fan-pleasing superhero references.

What's it all about?
Will Ferrell voices Megamind, a blue-skinned, enormo-brained supervillain whose attempts to take over the world (or at least Metro City) are constantly thwarted by his arch-nemesis and lifelong enemy, Metro Man (Brad Pitt). When his latest plan unexpectedly results in Metro Man's destruction, Megamind and his sidekick Minion (David Cross) seize control of the city but quickly get bored when they realise there's no-one to fight.

Megamind's solution is to create a new super-adversary by inventing a machine that will give an unsuspecting victim superhuman powers, but his plan backfires when he picks schlubby, obsessive news cameraman Hal (Jonah Hill). Meanwhile, Megamind falls madly in love with Metro Man's journalist girlfriend Roxanne Ritchie (Tina Fey), despite the fact that she can't stand him.

The Good
The vocal performances are terrific – Ferrell finds exactly the right note as Megamind and there's superb comic support from Cross, Hill, and Fey who is adorable as the Lois Lane-alike Ritchi. In addition, the witty script is packed with hilarious visual gags and the dialogue crackles with great one-liners and wonderful running jokes, such as the way Megamind constantly mispronounces certain words.

The brightly coloured animation is gorgeous throughout and director Tom McGrath displays impressive comic timing, ensuring that there's a big laugh in almost every scene. The film is also jam-packed with fan-pleasing superhero references, such as an inspired gag in which Megamind disguises himself as Marlon Brando (Superman's father in Superman) to try and tutor his new superhero or a hilarious opening joke where baby Metro Man's space-pod crash-lands under the Christmas tree of a rich couple and baby Megamind's lands in a prison.

The Great
The script's biggest achievement is that alongside all the superhero-based comedy, it also manages to make the love story surprisingly moving. The 3D effects are used well too, though their absence will barely be noticed by the time the film hits DVD.