C

Pixar has spoiled us when it comes to computer-generated animated features, and though DreamWorks has managed on occasion to meet their challenge (as “Shrek” and this year’s “How To Train Your Dragon” showed), too often their efforts suffer by comparison. That’s the case with “Megamind,” a foray into “Incredibles” territory that has a few sprightly moments but is overall pretty mediocre.

The superhero spoof begins with the standard situation of a metropolis—in this telling, heavily indebted to “Superman,” called Metro City—defended by the beloved Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt)—an exuberantly arrogant, big-chinned and big-muscled cape-wearing extraterrestrial with special powers, including super-strength and the ability to fly. His constant opponent is another visitor from outer space, the thin, reedy, blue-skinned Megamind (Will Ferrell), who’s been his rival since their school days (a flashback to which is one of the picture’s better episodes) and repeatedly threatens Metro Man’s apparent girlfriend, reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), whom MM must rescue over and over again.

Things change suddenly, though, when in their latest encounter Megamind actually manages to dispose of Metro Man—however accidentally—and take over the city. But he’s soon bored with the lack of competition, and so manufactures a new rival called Tighten, an erstwhile Jimmy Olsen character named Hal (Jonah Hill) infatuated with Roxanne whom Megamind converts into a super-powered kid and then tries to educate to his new “heroic” role. But that’s not all Megamind is up to. He’s also romancing Roxanne himself, using the guise of nice-guy Bernard (Justin Theroux), a dweeby attendant at the old Metro Man museum.

Of course, things go badly. Tighten turns out to be a power-hungry villain himself, and Roxanne dumps Megamind when she discovers his imposture. There’s also a revelation concerning Metro Man that sweetens the sour first act but turns out to be little more than a nasty joke.

There are some amusing bits of business in “Megamind.” David Cross, for example, gets quite a few laughs as Megamind’s loyal factotum Minion, a grotesque piranha encased in a water-filled bowl that serves as a head for a big robotic body. And that recap of the youthful school rivalry between the two extraterrestrials has some verve.

But for the most part the script comes across as more sophomoric than inspired. It has the disadvantage of coming so soon after “Despicable Me,” with its similar premise of a dastardly bad-guy who gradually turns good under benign human influence (though in that case it was three adorable tykes rather than a romantic partner). And though it’s not appreciably worse than Steve Carrell’s take on a super-villain, it has the misfortune to seem rather imitative as a result. The tweaking of the Superman formula, which could have yielded some sharp satire, instead just serves as a basis for smart-aleck sendups and rather smugly puerile verbal riffs and pop-culture references (and the almost offhand way Roxanne deals with her relationship with Metro Man may be necessary to push the plot forward, but is almost contemptuous toward its source). And the entire Tighten subplot is pretty dismal, not least because director Tom McGrath (“Madagascar”) and Hill never find the right tone for the character (or his predecessor Hal).

Nor does Ferrell add much to the fun. He opts for a near-falsetto, whimsical delivery obviously intended to make the character sympathetic, but it comes across as precious instead, and Fey is surprisingly colorless as the ultimate object of his affection. Pitt, on the other hand, shoots for the rafters, and at least shows some energy.

On the purely visual side “Megamind” looks good; one can take for granted the technical expertise of the creative team. But the 3D is peculiarly unimpressive. This is precisely the sort of narrative that could be punched up with in-your-face moments, but they’re relatively rare. And while the pop songs used on the soundtrack can be annoyingly obvious choices, the underscore by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe is solid.

But in the end “Megamind” has the manufactured feel of a product cobbled together by committee rather than something that comes from the heart. It may occupy kids for an hour and a half, but it certainly won’t enchant them, and they’re likely to forget it without a second thought.