MegaMind, the name aptly attaches itself to a half-cocky B-grade villain, which in this case is voiced by Will Farrell, whose superficial appearance comes packaged with a big, misaligned cone of a head, a small slit goatee and fashionista-black costume.

Like many vintage comicbook villains, he has a distinct colour to himself. That colour is blue. The combination of black, blue and big head hides a bemused malnourished personality that seeks one simple thing: to be the best bad there is.

MegaMind is a fast-paced outing that confidently tells the story of DreamWorks Animation’s slow progress to Pixar standard. However, to come to terms with Pixar, their stories need to step away from stereotypical awareness/reference to pop culture, slapstick and general cliché.

MegaMind is still neck deep in these areas, yet it still manages to utilise comedic pop references — including homage to Michael Jackson at the end of the film, when everyone boogies to MJ’s Bad — and cliché to its advantage; but only because its genetic code is spliced from DC Comic’s Superman. This is no Incredibles.

Tom McGarth (of Madagascar fame) is largely invisible as he paces through a fun, self-absorbed and pot-holed screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons that has Will Farrell (the voice of MegaMind) doing everything from romance to drama to parody.

Brad Pitt sounds good, even on Metro Man’s awkwardly long face and Elvis-like haircut. Tina Fey, as Roxanne Ritchie (the Lois Lane-type reporter) is designed with a head as misaligned as MegaMind. But hey, who’s complaining when you have comic geniuses at work, ploughing through what is essentially a kiddie picture with a dash of gravity. — Farheen Jawaid