This is a startlingly adult critique of "Nice Guy" syndrome. Megamind, the actual alien villain, has more emotional intelligence than the human "hero." The film’s most famous beat is the visual gag of Megamind disguising himself as "Bernard," a lanky, mustachioed museum curator, to get close to Roxanne.
The film answers with radical humanism: You are not your origin story. You are not your failures. You are the choice you make when the spotlight finally hits you—and you realize you’d rather share it than steal it.
The result is a disaster. Hal doesn't want to save people. He wants to be famous. He wants the girl (Roxanne Ritchi, the intrepid reporter). When he doesn't get what he wants, he becomes a nihilistic tyrant worse than Megamind ever was.
The irony is the point. Megamind has no "theme music" of his own. He borrows identities because he was never given one. The one original song— by Gilbert O’Sullivan—plays during his depression montage. It’s a 1972 ballad about suicidal loneliness. In a kids' movie.
