A movie made by one of the best animation companies ever, containing unexpected plot twists, enemies to love, a trope where the villain gets the girl and based on a play written in 1897. Sounds like the perfect romance movie, right? The movie I am describing is Megamind.
I know it is very strange to call a movie like Megamind a romance movie. And yes I am talking about the blue guy with the big forehead that has been used in a large assortment of memes. But I want you to hear me out.
The movie Megamind is slightly based on the play Cyrano De Bergerac, a romantic play made in the 1890s. The story is based around the characters Cyrano who is represented by Megamind and Roxanna Ritchi as Roxane, both having largely similar characteristics. The general idea of the play is that Cyrano thinks that he is too ugly to get with his long-time crush Roxanna, so he decides that he will only speak to her in the form of letters. In the adaption, Megamind will not reveal himself to Roxane in fear of rejection because one, he is the evil villain terrorizing everyone and two, he is objectively ugly. In both stories the girl falls in love with the protagonist’s personality and not their looks, which sounds like any other romance movie.
Not only is this film just similar to other romance movies, but it also has romance tropes, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance and villain gets the girl tropes included. Almost all of the most popular romance tropes are part of this movie. Think about it: Roxane hated Megamind with her whole heart. At some point, she was kidnapped by him. However, by learning about him behind the mental wall of villainy, she learns that she likes him or who he is pretending to be, Bernard. It is clearly following the very popular trope of hate to love.
Now I’m not going to act like Megamind is just a romance movie that has no other themes. For a movie aimed at kids, it has many complex ideas and many different layers to it. Explaining difficult topics in digestible ways for kids to understand. The idea is that people are not born bad. Megamind was not made bad but his own life experience turned him that way. Being bullied and outcasted can change people and showing this to the young audience provides valuable knowledge and an opportunity to learn. The movie is good to help younger people understand the possible effects of their actions in a fun and entertaining way.
Megamind is extremely popular and I am yet to meet someone who hasn’t at least heard of the movie or seen the character Megamind with a Google review rating of 4.8/5. You can tell very quickly that it is a beloved film. When looking on websites like YouTube and TikTok, you can very quickly find that as a whole, Megamind is a beloved movie that almost anyone can agree is a good movie, that suits any person. Before writing this article I was telling my parents about it and they both said that they remember watching Megamind with me when I was younger and thinking it was a good movie.
The reason why I will say it is the ultimate romance movie is purely because being a romance movie is not its only purpose. Think romance movies like Twilight, Five Feet Apart, Anyone but You, titanic, The Notebook and many others. These movies are all geared toward a specific type of person, normally teenage girls to adult women. I am not saying that these movies can be exclusively watched by girls, but they are the main audience. I’m going to be honest: getting anyone who isn’t completely interested in the romance genre to try and watch “The Titanic” sounds like a very difficult task, and unlike these movies, Megamind isn’t so much of a romance movie directed towards one specific audience with there own ideas of love and relationships, it geared towards anyone who will watch it. It’s not too long of a movie, it has plenty of jokes and overall won’t bore anyone who isn’t just into romance.
Overall if you’re looking for a romance movie, or a movie to distract yourself from the gross couples surrounding you on Valentine’s Day, consider checking out Megamind. The humour and animation style will entertain and amaze you. This movie is truly amazing for anyone at any age, and as much as we make fun of it and create new memes of it every couple of years, it is really fun to watch.
