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Dreamworks Animation is known for their comedies which appeal to kids and adults alike. Movies likeKung Fu Panda, Shrek,andHow To Train Your Dragonhave 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 toKung-Fu Panda 4, they may not know about the quietly releasedMegamindsequel.
Release Date
June 21, 2025
In 2010, Dreamworks released the superhero comedyMegamind,with Will Ferrell starring as the titularsupervillain-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 inMegamind vs. The Doom Syndicateas a Peacock Original.
InMegamind 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 givingMegamind vs. The Doom Syndicatea 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 aboutMegamind vs. The Doom Syndicate.
In one critic’s review, Nell Minow ofRogerEbert.comwrote “They ran the original through the washing machine a few times, and then faxed it.”Collider’sreview of the film states"Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicateis 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 Tomatoesuser 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 onMetacritic,Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicatehas a user score of 1.1 based on 58 user ratings. UserNykoogave 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,” andrich_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
Yet another beloved Dreamworks franchise released a new sequel in 2024, but did not live up to fans’ expectations.Kung Fu Panda 4sees 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 theKung Fu Pandafilms were left disappointed by the movie. There are several Reddit threads which give disparaging opinions on the latest in the series. One review posted byu/JcOvrthinkwrapped 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/LittleYellowFish1said thatKung Fu Panda 4was “okay at best,” but felt that because of the first 3 movies, the fourth “had a higher standard to live up to.” In the officialKung Fu Panda 4megathread, fans were eager to make themselves heard. Redditoru/Mystic3012commented, “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 theKung Fu Pandafranchise were unimpressed by the latest film, many critics have givenKung Fu Panda 4their seal of approval, as the film currently has a score of71% on Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic, however, shows “mixed or average” reviews with ascore of 54.
