movie review
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
Starring: Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll, Jordan Peele, and Kristen Schaal
Directed by: David Soren
Tagline: You've seen Britain, you've seen France ... but you've never seen anyone like this guy.
Its title may not make the film sound very promising, but Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a delightful animated romp that is very likely to entertain its viewers.
To be fair, the animated feature’s style is rooted in the silly, juvenile humour that its name suggests, but writer Dav Pilkey’s offbeat premise – the film is based on his popular children’s novel series – and the creativity and energy with which director David Soren and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller have approached the material make the project surprisingly fun.
The story revolves around best friends George (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch), two imaginative elementary school pranksters whose favourite hobbies include making comic books and antagonizing their mean-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms). Tired of their mischief, Krupp decides to annihilate the boys’ friendship by putting them in separate classes. To prevent this from happening, George and Harold use a hypno-ring – a cereal box prize – to transform Krupp into one of their comic book creations: Captain Underpants, a superhero who fights crime while wearing only underwear and a cape, and whose primary superpowers appear to be extreme delusion and complete stupidity. Little do they know that they will soon need their hapless superhero’s help when supervillian Professor P. (Nick Kroll) arrives at their school with a nefarious plan of ridding the world of laughter.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is significantly more enjoyable than something called “Captain Underpants” has any right to be. Sure there is a lot of juvenile humor, but there is so much more to the film than that. It’s a story about friendship, and the magic of boundless imagination unbridled by logic or propriety. There are amusing references to other superheroes as the film deftly skewers the genre. And there are visual sequences that are creative and entertaining.
The voice cast, overall, is also solid. Hart and Middleditch make amicable, likable protagonists. Helms and Kroll, too, give good performances as the superhero and supervillain respectively. (Kristen Schaal’s voice is a tad grating but that’s a minor complaint as her character – a shy school lunch lady who has a thing for Mr. Krupp – plays a very small role in the film.)
Soren has done a terrific job transforming Pilkey’s work and taking it from page to screen. It may not have the gravitas of a Pixar outing, but that’s because this simply isn’t one of its goals. The film is unabashedly silly and full of creatively and laugh out loud wit. Captain Underpants feels like intelligently done lowbrow comedy. It is very likely to win you over even if you aren’t a fan of such humour, and leave you hoping that the project will spawn a sequel. If you are in the mood for something zany, offbeat, and a lot of fun, then give this movie a chance. The film is highly recommended to younger viewers as well as older viewers who are still young at heart.
Rating: 4 out of 5
- S.A.
Starring: Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll, Jordan Peele, and Kristen Schaal
Directed by: David Soren
Tagline: You've seen Britain, you've seen France ... but you've never seen anyone like this guy.
Its title may not make the film sound very promising, but Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a delightful animated romp that is very likely to entertain its viewers.
To be fair, the animated feature’s style is rooted in the silly, juvenile humour that its name suggests, but writer Dav Pilkey’s offbeat premise – the film is based on his popular children’s novel series – and the creativity and energy with which director David Soren and screenwriter Nicholas Stoller have approached the material make the project surprisingly fun.
The story revolves around best friends George (voiced by Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch), two imaginative elementary school pranksters whose favourite hobbies include making comic books and antagonizing their mean-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms). Tired of their mischief, Krupp decides to annihilate the boys’ friendship by putting them in separate classes. To prevent this from happening, George and Harold use a hypno-ring – a cereal box prize – to transform Krupp into one of their comic book creations: Captain Underpants, a superhero who fights crime while wearing only underwear and a cape, and whose primary superpowers appear to be extreme delusion and complete stupidity. Little do they know that they will soon need their hapless superhero’s help when supervillian Professor P. (Nick Kroll) arrives at their school with a nefarious plan of ridding the world of laughter.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is significantly more enjoyable than something called “Captain Underpants” has any right to be. Sure there is a lot of juvenile humor, but there is so much more to the film than that. It’s a story about friendship, and the magic of boundless imagination unbridled by logic or propriety. There are amusing references to other superheroes as the film deftly skewers the genre. And there are visual sequences that are creative and entertaining.
The voice cast, overall, is also solid. Hart and Middleditch make amicable, likable protagonists. Helms and Kroll, too, give good performances as the superhero and supervillain respectively. (Kristen Schaal’s voice is a tad grating but that’s a minor complaint as her character – a shy school lunch lady who has a thing for Mr. Krupp – plays a very small role in the film.)
Soren has done a terrific job transforming Pilkey’s work and taking it from page to screen. It may not have the gravitas of a Pixar outing, but that’s because this simply isn’t one of its goals. The film is unabashedly silly and full of creatively and laugh out loud wit. Captain Underpants feels like intelligently done lowbrow comedy. It is very likely to win you over even if you aren’t a fan of such humour, and leave you hoping that the project will spawn a sequel. If you are in the mood for something zany, offbeat, and a lot of fun, then give this movie a chance. The film is highly recommended to younger viewers as well as older viewers who are still young at heart.
Rating: 4 out of 5
- S.A.
Us Magazine, The News - 6th October, 2017 *
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