For the second time this year (“Despicable Me”), we’re treated to an animated film about the trials and tribulations of a super-villain. In a sort of backhanded answer to Pixar’s “The Incredibles” (and I mean that in a positive way), Dreamworks, which earlier this year delivered spectacularly with “How to Train Your Dragon,” hits yet another animated adventure out of the park. “Megamind” is clever, fast-paced and fun, and looks fantastic in 3-D.

Megamind (Will Ferrell) is the world’s most brilliant super-villain. Too bad he’s also its least successful. Though he’s tried every play in the book to conquer Metro City, the preening caped superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt) has thwarted him at every turn. Then the utterly unexpected happens — Megamind is victorious and Metro Man is vanquished forever!

It isn’t long before Megamind realizes his identity as an evil super-villain is wrapped up in the ying

yang of good vs. evil. So Megamind sets about creating his own nemesis, a new caped superhero to give his world purpose again.

It’s clear that the filmmakers behind “Megamind” know their comic book conventions, by how often they giddily poke holes in and ultimately subvert them. Drawing on established lore, the filmmakers set out to answer the question: What would the world look like if Lex Luther defeated Superman? This all sounds dark and heavy, and were this not a Dreamworks cartoon, doubtless would be. But since “Megamind” has been crafted to make you laugh, you can go in secure that, while familiar archetypes may be mixed and matched, it’s all in goofy, good-natured fun.

Ferrell is hilarious as the sort of villain Dr. Evil would readily recognize. Other vocal standouts include Tina Fey as a reporter Megamind is continually kidnapping (and with whom he is smitten), Jonah Hill as her cameraman and the unwitting recipient of Megamind’s plan to create a new superhero, and David Cross as Megamind’s second-in-command, an extraterrestrial fish.

As has become par for the course, the films that sell 3-D best are all animated. “Megamind” is no exception, a graceful and impressive use of the technology that comes across as natural and restrained even as it clearly takes advantage of the eye-poking illusions young audiences adore. It is a truth universally recognized that evil is always more interesting than good. “Megamind” makes the most of this convention even as it brings it back around again in the end with a moral that both kids and adults can appreciate and embrace.

Details

MEGAMIND

Cast: Voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, David Cross

Director: Tom McGrath

Rated: PG (for action and some language)

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Photo by 2010 Paramount Pictures.