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Dreamworks Animation is known for their comedies which appeal to kids and adults alike. Movies like Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, and How To Train Your Dragon have made big numbers at the box office, and earned both critical and audience acclaim. The success of these titles has each inspired mega franchises that have made the studio billions.
As is the trend with many film franchises, movie series tend to follow a downhill slope when it comes to quality. Oftentimes, studios are accused of making sequels as a cash grab rather than producing a five-star project. With the poor reception of two feature films released by Dreamworks in 2024, this appears to be the case. While moviegoers might already know about the underwhelming response to Kung-Fu Panda 4, they may not know about the quietly released Megamind sequel.
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Dreamworks' Megamind Sequel Is A Disaster
Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate | |
|---|---|
Director | Eric Fogel |
Writers | Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons, Eric Acosta |
Cast | Keith Ferguson, Laura Post, Josh Brener |
Release Date | March 1, 2024 |
In 2010, Dreamworks released the superhero comedy Megamind, with Will Ferrell starring as the titular supervillain-turned-hero. While the film may not have been the blockbuster smash the studio was hoping for, the film brought in an adequate domestic gross and was generally favorable with audiences. With the sequels of previous films also providing a decent profit, Dreamworks decided to bring back the blue-domed supergenius in Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate as a Peacock Original.
In Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate, Megamind is surprised by the return of his former crew, a group of dastardly villains who believe the reformed hero is playing a long con. Minion, renamed Ol’ Chum, is hoping for a promotion to sidekick, while Roxanne is feeling unfulfilled with her TV reporter career. The movie also introduces a new character, Keiko, a young Megamind superfan with her own set of tech skills.
If Dreamworks was hoping to cash in on the trend of franchises making a comeback via streaming, it was sorely mistaken. None of the original writers, cast, or crew were on board for this dismal sequel, which in itself is very telling. The animation is subpar compared to the first movie, and the story is slapdashed together with none of the heart or humor of the original.
Fan And Critic Reactions To The Megamind Sequel
For those considering giving Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate a go, they may want to look at these reactions to the panned sequel first. With single-digit scores for both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, fans and critics have plenty to say about Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate.
In one critic’s review, Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com wrote “They ran the original through the washing machine a few times, and then faxed it.” Collider’s review of the film states "Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate is the movie equivalent of meeting a friend you missed for many years only to realize that the encounter didn’t really need to happen.” Rotten Tomatoes user Giovanni T posed the question, "What’s your least favourite movie? Well I guarantee it’s better than this,” while Martin H wrote “There is no Easter Bunny, there is no Tooth Fairy, and there is no Megamind 2.”
Meanwhile on Metacritic, Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate has a user score of 1.1 based on 58 user ratings. User Nykoo gave the movie a score of 1, writing “This wasn’t necessary, poor animation, this just was made to make easy money, no effort or love into this, absolutely horrendous,” and rich_in_london, who gave a score of 0, stated, “I'm really not sure where to start but if you want a masterclass in how not-to-animate, then watch this film.”
Fans Did Not Like The Other 2024 Dreamworks Sequel
- The Rotten Tomatoes critics score for Kung Fu Panda 4 is 71%
- The Rotten Tomatoes user score is 86%
- Metacritic gives Kung Fu Panda 4 a 54 critic score
- The user score on Metacritic is 6.5
Yet another beloved Dreamworks franchise released a new sequel in 2024, but did not live up to fans’ expectations. Kung Fu Panda 4 sees Jack Black returning to voice Po the Panda, a master of martial arts and the legendary Dragon Warrior. This time, Po teams up with Zhen, a fox with sticky fingers voiced by Awkwafina.
Despite its star power and successful predecessors, long-time fans of the Kung Fu Panda films were left disappointed by the movie. There are several Reddit threads which give disparaging opinions on the latest in the series. One review posted by u/JcOvrthink wrapped up their thoughts with “I don’t think it was bad, but it was aggressively mediocre compared to the first 3.”
In another thread, u/LittleYellowFish1 said that Kung Fu Panda 4 was “okay at best,” but felt that because of the first 3 movies, the fourth “had a higher standard to live up to.” In the official Kung Fu Panda 4 megathread, fans were eager to make themselves heard. Redditor u/Mystic3012 commented, “Compared to how well-written and deep KFP 1 and 2 are, and even to a lesser extent 3, 4 feels much more generic, predictable and vanilla, something the KFP franchise is usually not.”
Though it seems that megafans of the Kung Fu Panda franchise were unimpressed by the latest film, many critics have given Kung Fu Panda 4 their seal of approval, as the film currently has a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic, however, shows “mixed or average” reviews with a score of 54.
Fans Are Not Happy With This Kung Fu Panda 4 Character
The first trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 has released to a less than stellar reception, primarily due to one character.