The first Megamind movie wasn't exactly what you'd call a massive hit when it was released back in 2010, but it was fairly well-received by critics (73% on Rotten Tomatoes), and emerged as a family-favourite over the years.
To say that DreamWorks' direct-to-steaming sequel, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate, is not proving to be quite as popular would be an understatement.
The movie is now streaming on Peacock, and the review embargo lifted the same day it premiered (never a great sign). Right now, Megamind 2 is sitting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. A dreadful start, obviously, but it is worth noting that only 7 reviews have been counted so far, so at least a couple of critics are bound to give it a positive write-up... right?.
Even if you're not usually inclined to go by the critics, viewers don't seem to be much more impressed (it has a 7% audience score).
We probably should have seen the writing on the wall when none of the original voice cast agreed to return, although co-writer Brent Simmons indicated that this was mostly due to scheduling conflicts during an interview with Screen Rant.
"Yeah, there's a lot of internal discussions we're not privy to, but I think it ultimately usually comes down to the time. And having Megamind and this ensemble around, that's a lot of people's schedules to organize. So, I think it was decided early on to find fresh talent. But also, we were lucky enough to get Keith Ferguson, who was Megamind's voice in a lot of video games, and some of the commercials when the movie came out. We even cast a wide net, but we always came back to Keith because, not only does he have that experience of speaking in Will's voice, he's such a talented voice actor that he's able to kind of take the baton from Will, and build on what Will created. It's a collaboration, even though these two guys — I'm not sure if they've even met — it's such a cool and interesting thing to see."
Do you plan on giving Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate a go despite the negative reviews? Have a look at the trailer below, and let us know in the comments section.
"When Megamind's former villain team the Doom Syndicate returns, the newly crowned blue hero must keep up evil appearances until he can assemble his friends (Roxanne, Chum and Keiko) to stop his old teammates from launching Metro City to the moon."