‘Megamind Vs. The Doom Syndicate’ Review: Even Worse Than You Thought It’d Be

I wish we’d never had to go this far… It’s been 14 years since Megamind arrived in theaters across the world and became one of Dreamworks’ best original animated movies ever. Now, the studio decides to bring the character back for a sequel. Is it worth it? I’ll be really direct and honest with you: this might be one of the most atrocious, embarrassing, cringey, depressing and heartbreaking animated movies I’ve ever seen. And you must be wondering why it’s heartbreaking. Well, it was heartbreaking to me that they really are tying their best to ruin the characters we love, ruin their legacy and reputation. This movie proves that some ideas should just stay as ideas.

The film takes place only 2 days after the first movie (YES, this IS cannon), and now, Megamind’s former villain team, The Doom Syndicate, has “returned”. Our newly crowned blue hero must now keep up evil appearances until he can assemble his friends (Roxanne, Ol’ Chum and Keiko) to stop his former evil teammates from launching Metro City to the Moon.

I don’t mind if you make a terrible movie for little kids only. The issue with this movie is not that it’s bad, even though it’s dreadful, but it’s how they made you hate the characters you adored. Do you recall the awesome, incredible villain Megamind was in the first movie? Well, he’s a completely different character here. Forget the cool soundtrack, forget the chemistry and dynamics with other characters, forget the genius mind he had, forget EVERYTHING you know about Megamind because the so-called ‘hero’ is a total flop. I always loved the first Megamind and everything in it, from the story to the characters, everything! Here, Megamind is weak, stupid, dull, and just foolish. Chum (aka Minion) and Megamind are apart for the whole movie, the ENTIRE movie. The amazing duo with such great chemistry was not even reunited until the very end of this. I like the idea of Chum not wanting to be Megamind’s minion but his sidekick. They could have added some good drama to this dynamic, but no, they just kept both of the characters away from each other for more than an hour just to have them apologize to each other at the end of it all. And wow, what happened to Roxanne? Another well-developed character in Megamind. She is nothing in this movie, her role is meaningless, and she’s just there, literally just there, doing nothing. Roxanne has always been a decisive woman, always knowing what to do or good at making choices. They destroyed every single character we loved, and THAT is the real problem with this movie. The attempt to alter each character’s personality to make them more childish and bland is what really damaged this franchise.

And if you think I’m too harsh on this movie, my deep apologies. I knew this movie would be awful, but I hoped to at least see the characters I adored again, but instead, I got completely different characters with a terrible animation. Something that ruined my experience even more was how Megamind had no memorable scenes. I recall the first movie having some amazing moments with Megamind’s entrances always being spectacular and now he had no moment where we could say: “Oh there’s the Megamind I know!”

And then, there are the new characters. This one little girl who tries to be witty or smart but was only irritating, I won’t dwell on her because she was the least of my problems. But what about the villains? The Doom Syndicate is as dumb as the name implies. Each member of this villain team is bland, cliché and utterly boring. Characters that are mere stereotypes of animated villains with no real motivation, they are just evil and there is always that one on the team who is so foolish and does silly things hoping that kids will find it funny. Well, good luck with that!!

The visuals are not even worth judging, because this is nothing but trash. Do not bother watching this, it is an insult, a complete disregard for the people who love and admire the first movie. Megamind Vs. The Doom Syndicate is one of the most pathetic sequels ever. If you expected this to be bad, then surprise! It is even worse. A movie that alienates the fans of the franchise and discourages newcomers from ever giving this character a chance. Oh, and there’s also a TV series that released alongside the movie, I ain’t watching it, but I hope you enjoy it!

Megamind Vs. The Doom Syndicate is NOW streaming on Peacock.