Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Review
With a title like this, there are two possibilities: either this film is a smart film about potty humor or it’s the worst thing ever. Happily I can say it’s the former. This movie’s awesome. The animated adventures of George, Harold, and the title superhero make this one of the better animated films I’ve seen so far this year, though I do prefer The LEGO Batman Movie, and overall, yes, one of the better films released so far this year. Keep in mind, part of this might be because a chapter, so to speak, of my grade school days were spent being engrossed in the book series, so re-lighting those memories might have something to do with how much I liked the film. Anywho, let’s get into the review.
The film centers on George and Harold, two kids who are in the worst sort of hell you can imagine: a third-rate elementary school with a demented principal and the most boring teachers on the face of the earth. As these two get into more and more trouble with their inventive pranks, mostly on Principal Krupp, the principal gets madder and madder and goes to great lengths to try and catch them. However, when they go one prank to far, he threatens to separate the two friends into two different classrooms. In a last ditch effort, the boys place Krupp under a spell where he removes almost all his clothes and becomes the superhero that George and Harold created, Captain Underpants. But can he be a real superhero or just a man in his tighty-whiteys and a cape? And will he need to be more than that?
Okay, first off, the voice-cast is excellent. From Ed Helms as the title hero (?) to Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch as George and Harold are great leads, then Jordan Peele has a great supporting voice part as a tattle-tale enemy of the boys, and Kristen Schaal is nice as the lunch lady with a crush on Krupp. But it’s Nick Kroll’s unrecognizable voice perform as villain Professor Poopypants (yeah, I know) that was my favorite. The design of all the characters and the animation style was also terrific. The style complements the at times outlandish plot points. You know, the film could have been one-note with its potty-mouthed heroes and jokes, but it goes for all sorts of different ranges with that type of humor. We get the whoopee-cushion jokes, the underwear jokes, the poop jokes, you name it, it’s there, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, either. The film is a brisk 80 minutes without credits, and it never drags. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the more well-paced films I’ve seen so far this year, with the exception of Get Out (2017), which is outstanding, but anyway, the film is also great for family audiences. The kids will fall in love with the characters, the humor, and hopefully the animation, too, and one thing the film does that I loved: it celebrates and encourages creativity. In an age where kids are pretty much glued to their phone from the time they can hold one and comprehend it, the film doesn’t have any jokes or acknowledgements of iPhones or anything to that nature that I can remember. The film is set in modern times with computers and modern cars seen, so it’s not like it’s set in the past or anything, but still this is a welcome message, especially when I recently saw The Circle, and while that film was aiming at a more mature audience of teens and tweens, it was giving them the message of if you’re not on your phone tweeting, snapchatting, texting, and instagraming constantly you’re a hermit and not a part of society, which is just downright stupid. Sorry, still not over that one. So yes, that’s a welcome message I have no problems with.
If I have any complaints about the film, it’s just that there’s a couple of jarring moments where the film cuts from it’s 3-D animation style to sock puppets and other stuff, which I got what they were going for and it was a fun change, it still felt unnecessary. There’s a couple other quick examples of that in the film. Also even though the potty-humor is what the film is all about, even I have my limits. Yeah, there’s a couple of times where it’s just too much, but then we’ll go to a quick Oprah or Ebola reference for the older kids or adult audiences that offers a nice change of pace. So yeah, I guess there’s just enough of that for me to knock off a point, but otherwise I can’t really find too much else wrong with it.
So again, kind of like Goosebumps (2015) from a couple of years ago, the childhood nostalgia factors in with how much I liked it. Maybe if I wasn’t as familiar with the source material I would have thought the villain’s name was too much or the whole concept was so outlandish that I couldn’t give it a positive review, but that’s just not the case. If you go in with the right frame of mind you’ll be the most entertained you’ve been in a long time, and even if you’re not the biggest fan of this type of humor, I think there’s enough originality in there for you to still have a good time with the kids or nieces and nephews or grandkids or whoever else you’ll take to this. And again, I can’t stress enough the message of being creative and original is very welcome. Captain Underpants flies high in this first outing, and I hope there’s more to come.
My rating: 9/10.
