When it was first released, critics spoke negatively about how Megamind had lack of 'originality'. One thing they overlooked and should've praised was the character complexities.

Megamind is one of the most underrated and unappreciated animated movies I have ever watched, next to others like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Hercules, The Road to El Dorado and Chicken Run for example. I think if it came out at the right time and not next to when Despicable Me was released, it would've been a huge hit that could've had a couple sequels. Sure I will admit that maybe the plot seemed familiar, but it's structure was well handled IMO. Also the characters were the real highlight of the story for me. Even though they are presented as simple characters that are meant to be inspired by the typical superhero and supervillain who are just one dimensional "good" and "evil" are actually complex and multi layered.Megamind's character fascinated me the most. Ever since he was little, all he ever wanted was to win over everyone's love and approval of him, but all he got in return was neglect and rejection. Now you would think this kind of background would be the kind of thing that would fuel him with rage that he would hold grudges and would seek revenge on society by proving he is more superior than them, but that really isn't the case. Sure Metro Man always took the spotlight from him and he might've been a little jealous, but I think deep down Megamind had a lot of admiration and respect for him. He only became a villain because he felt that there were all of these signs telling him it was his destiny, from being raised by criminals and for having a super-powered being as his rival. People only saw him as a monster, so he embraced that image even if he deep down wanted something else.When he has "killed" Metro Man, he is shocked but tries to enjoy his achievement at being the villain who won whereas the hero lost. He is very unsatisfied and shows tremendous amount of regret, he lost what kept him going in life and without a hero he really has no purpose cause all he'll ever be is a villain who needs a hero to stop him. However, his romance with Roxanne (while wearing a disguise) gave him hope that there might be more he could do with his life than just being the villain. That break up scene they had in the rain was cliche, but it was handled so beautifully that it doesn't really matter much. The animation on their facial expressions and the voice acting by Will Ferrell and Tina Fey is what made it masterful.I'd also include Hal whose depth is also just as great. Hal was a very scary villain, he was the kind of guy who only acted 'nice' cause he was seeking moral dessert. When he got powers he felt even more entitled, and was only excited to be a hero because he felt the girl he was obsessed with (Roxanne) would finally be his. However, when she is still not interested, his true colors finally come out. Minion was right, it was a mistake to give him powers, but his reign of terror benefited Megamind in a way where people finally saw that he was deep down a good person that they harshly judged.Does anyone else agree? via /r/movies http://bit.ly/2N0t7kW