Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate’ on Peacock, a Superhero Sequel 14 Years In The Making

From the Movies We Would’ve Forgot Existed If It Wasn’t For That 14-Year-Old Billboard Still Hanging in Suburban Detroit Dept. comes Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate (now streaming on Peacock), a direct-to-streaming regurgitation of a piece of wannabe IP from 2010. Please contain your excitement. The OG Megamind was a medium-sized hit thanks to Will Ferrell and Tina Fey voiceovers, and a release during the peak CG/3-D animation era. It was perfectly OK enough to make a little scratch, but not inspire a sequel – at least until Kabletown and their megacorp ilk started plumbing musty archives for franchise revivals to fill the content menus of their money-pit streaming services. MvtDS serves as a feature-length launching pad for the Megamind Rules! series, and none of it retains the original voice cast because, well, money, probably — but also possibly the catch-22 situation of A-list talent not wanting to touch mediocre material, while the mediocre material could have been gussied up with A-list talent. As the one guy once said, so it goes. 

MEGAMIND VS. THE DOOM SYNDICATE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: MvtDS is set two days after Megamind, if you’re keeping track, and why wouldn’t you be? We get a recap: Megamind (Keith Ferguson) is a bulbous-headed alien whose subsequent social alienation turned him into a supervillain, but what with one thing and another, he switched sides and became a superhero. Standing beside him are TV newscaster Roxanne Ritchi (Laura Post) and his flunky Ol’ Chum (Josh Brener), who used to be called Minion, and there’s a meta-joke here about legal reasons for the name change that’s both obvious and not funny, because aren’t the Despicable Me Minions also owned by Universal? The answer to that is “Whatever,” which also is the likely response to the existence of a 14-years-in-the-works Megamind sequel, and also the movie’s M.O.

Yet we slog on, because we must. Megamind is still a Coneheadish sort blurting malapropisms, and Chum is still a strange deep-sea fish in an upside-down bowl atop a robot-gorilla body – except Chum wants to be promoted from lickspittle to sidekick, and Megamind is too thoughtless and egotistical to do it. So Chum quits to plunge toilets at a bleak greasy spoon, and eventually uses his smarts to turn the place into a hot doughnut spot. Meanwhile, Roxanne helps Megamind reorient himself as a do-gooder, and the plot introduces a Poochiesque kid character, Keiko (Maya Aoki Tuttle), a relentlessly upbeat social media whiz and Megamind superfan who wants to join his heroic cause. If any villains happen to be around, Keiko no doubt will Instagram them to death.

Speaking of villains. In the local prison, we meet the Doom Syndicate: Lady Doppler (Emily Tunon) controls the weather, Pierre Pressure (Scott Adsit) is a hypnotist mime, Behemoth (Chris Sullivan) is a strong guy made of lava rock and Lord Nighty-Knight (Patrick Warburton) is a big scary warrior type. They bust out and wreak havoc and don’t know Megamind is a good guy now. They recruit him to join the evil party and he doesn’t say no because he’s a megawuss. Even though his mind is mega, it takes him a while to realize that he might be able to thwart their dastardly plans from the inside. Will Megamind get over himself long enough to reunite with Chum and defeat the villains? NO SPOILERS of course, but the villains surely won’t stay defeated, since they have eight episodes of a series to populate now. 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s about time Megamind got a sequel – even Space Chimps got one. What’s next on the list of revivals nobody asked for? Shark Tale Too? Surf’s Up and Down? Monsters vs. Aliens vs. Your Tolerance for This Junk? 

Performance Worth Watching Hearing: None of the voiceover talent really stands out here, but I guess Brener seems to be enjoying himself (and is a reasonable enough replacement for the original Minion/Chum, David Cross). 

Memorable Dialogue: “Paying for things! Whoever came up with that scheme is the real evil genius.” – Megamind

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: MvtDS opens with Megamind speaking directly at us, and I couldn’t wait for him to shut up – only 82 more minutes to go! The movie is formulaic down to its molecular structure: Mayhemic action, some world-building for the spinoff series, poop jokes, puns, malapropisms that are barely a cut above the Family Circus comic panel, etc. The animation looks like a glorified episode of Paw Patrol. It follows a wearisome prefab plot, and its characters are off the TJ Maxx discount rack. It’ll blend right into the Peacock kiddie menu alongside (checks notes) Dino King, Boonie Bears, Kung Food, Jackie Chan’s Fantasia and other sausage-machine fodder you didn’t know existed until now, and that I might’ve just made up? (Note: Trick question – they’re all real!)

The 2010 movie, a passable-at-best superhero spoof, suffered mightily in the wake of the relatively charming Despicable Me, which bulldozed it in the popularity sweepstakes. And it continues to suffer due to a lack of creativity and the sinking feeling that none of this is anybody’s vision. The Megamind pseudo-franchise smacks of an idea spawned by marketing wonks in a boardroom hoping to generate content broad enough to appeal to “everybody,” but especially if “everybody” is a potential advertiser or branding-tie-in affiliate. (Will children like it? Who cares! The only thing that matters is if people in other boardrooms like it!) It’s definitely not art, it’s barely entertainment, and if anything ever felt like capital-P Product, this is it. 

Our Call: Megamind vs. the Doom Syndicate is vaguely comic genrica loitering in the Peacock menu, just waiting for exasperated parents to turn it on and keep the little monsters entertained so Mom can finally grab 10 minutes for herself and use the can in peace. SKIP IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.