Fix the Plot

[Blackleaf]

Ever experience a movie or video game's story that was so bad, you felt compelled to fix it? As a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, a serious plagued with lackluster storytelling, I've spent way too much time doing that. Well, this is a thread for doing that. Is there a story that is so bafflingly stupid, you think you could have done better? Write what you would have done differently here.

I'll start with something the internet collectively shat on as soon as the first trailer, and for good reason: Megamind VS the Doom Syndicate. Everything about this movie is terrible, from the animation, the lack of Will Ferrell, the character designs, to the nonsensical story. It's wild to think that the sequel was written by some of the same people who wrote the original movie. You'd think their target audience would be the people who saw the original movie back in 2010, but instead they seem to be targeting little children, who weren't alive back then and mostly only know about Megamind because of this meme:



Despite all this, I do think a sequel for Megamind does have potential. And while the chances of a sequel being as inventive and fun as the original are slim, it could still be something worth watching. So I'll try to fix the story of this movie with as few changes possible to make it less...bad.

First of all, I'd change the villains who make up the team. They're all very forgettable, uninspired characters, with ugly designs. One of them literally looks like a Skylander. First, the movie isn't actually where the "Doom Syndicate" original came from. There was a video game where Megamind fights a villain team by this name. It's probably not considered "canon," but it's villains are way more imaginative and original. Use some of them instead.

Alternatively, you could make entirely new characters. I saw one video where someone used AI to come up with better villains. And while I do not approve of AI being used as an alterative for real writers, they are useful for just finding inspiration, or a starting point to work with.

The Pigeonator is a wonderfully silly idea, and I think they would have fit right in with the original cast. But with that out of the way, I'll just be referring to the "Doom Syndicate" as a collective, rather than as individuals, for the sake of simplicity, with the exception of Machiavillain.

To start with, I'd have the movie open with Megamind as a child in prison. Machiavillain is there, as a leader of a prison gang, and he takes the blue boy under his wing as his mentor. Years later, he gathers a group of villains together and forms the Doom Syndicate. However, a rift forms between Megamind and Machiavillain. The former is more interested in the silly, cartoony villain type of schemes, while Machiavillain has become bloodthirsty and legitimately dangerous. When Machiavillain reveals his plan to infect the entire city with a deadly virus, and to hold the only antidote as ransom, Megamind feels like he needs to step in. In secret, he contacts Metroman using a disguise, and he tells the hero the Doom Syndicate's plan. Metroman defeats the syndicate, nearly killing Machiavillain in the process and locking him and the rest of the syndicate in separate jails to prevent him from organizing an escape. The syndicate waits in prison for their one remaining member, Megamind, to come and bust them out.

Skipping to present day, Megamind is fighting crime in the city. No people in stupid fish costumes; just normal criminals like thieves. He finds his new role as hero to be incredibly exhausting. It turns out trying to fill Metroman's shoes was harder than he thought. Minion suggests that Megamind make a new team to work with, but Megamind shuts down this suggestion quickly, saying that he works alone. Next day, Megamind is meeting with Roxanne, where she's discussing her campaign strategy. She is running as mayor, a position in which she thinks she could make a lot of positive change. Megamind is trying to listen, but he keeps nodding off. Having been up all night fighting crime, he can barely function during the day. She reiterates to him how he is spreading himself too thin, and he needs help, but Megamind insists he can handle it, chugging an entire pot of coffee to wake himself up.

There's a big explosion, and Megamind races into action. When he arrives, he finds his old team, minus Machiavillain. They've just broken themselves out of prison. Being completely unprepared for this, he attempts to take the villains down, but is quickly overpowered. Thinking quickly he tells them that the whole hero thing was just a ruse, to gain the city's trust. He claims that once he finds the secret location of Machiavillain's prison, he plans to strike while the city is defenseless. The syndicate buy this lie, and they agree not to ruin his cover, making it appear as if Megamind has defeated them and then making their escape.

Immediately after this, he returns to his lair. In a panic, he tries to come up with a plan, but before he can get far, the syndicate appear at his doorstep and make themselves at home. For the next several days, they have this pattern where they'd start trouble, then he'd show up to stop them, they'd let him win, and they'd run away. He experiments with new weapons and devices, and some of them work well enough that the villains start to get suspicious, but he tells them he "has to make it look good." Eventually, the villains begin to get tired of this game, and they begin asking questions. Like why, after all these years, he'd never tried to break them out. They begin demanding things from him. New weapons, letting them win every once and a while, but he always has an excuse to keep from helping them. The team decides they've had enough and turn on him, overpowering him and Minion and locking them in a cage. As they're discussing how to dispose with the traitor, suggesting various forms of execution, Minion speaks up saying, "Wait! I know where Machiavillain is!"

Ignoring Megamind's orders to keep quiet, Minion pushes him away, claiming that he liked being a villain better. In exchange for sparing their lives, Minion helps the syndicate bust their leader out of prison. Once they bring him back, Machiavillain, now reduced to a brain in a jar, takes Megamind's watch and disguises himself as Megamind. With this disguise, he tells the real Megamind that he will destroy his reputation, making it so the city hates him like they did before, to remind Megamind who his "real friends are."

This plan works for the most part, but while the rest of the city turns against Megamind, Roxanne is not fooled by the disguise. She can see that Megamind is acting out of character, and she knows something is up, so she goes to confront him. Minion steps in, acting like he's going to take her somewhere else to execute her. Once they're out of earshot, he tells her what's really going on. While Minion keeps the others distracted, Roxanne sneaks over to Megamind's cage and frees him. Once free and in safety, Megamind finally admits that he's way over his head. He was afraid to let others help, because he didn't feel like he could trust anyone else. He pulls out a vial filled with a super serum similar to what he used to create Titan. Handing it to Roxanne, he tells her that she is the only person in the world he can trust to use her powers for good, and to never abuse them. Minion acts offended, but when Megamind reminds him of a time he almost smashed a hot dog stand because they forgot his pickle, he nods and says, "Fair enough."

Megamind creates some upgrades on Minion's robot body, makes some new tools for himself, and they confront the Doom Syndicate. After defeating the villains, Megamind has them locked away in a more secure facility, on the Moon. Roxanne decides to keep her super powers a secret, going by the name Megamight. After becoming mayor, she passes a motion to create a new super team led by Megamind. As a reward for his service, Megamind gives Minion a "promotion," changing his name to Ol' Chum.

Midway through the credits, we see a spaceship approaching Earth, with a group of blue men and women on board. "So, you're sure this is the planet he was sent to?"

"Yes, sir. The natives call him Megamind."

"Land the ship. It's time to lay claim to our new home."