Capitaine Superslip

This has been a huge week for "Wonder Woman", as it set a record for a female-directed movie with over $100,000,000 at the box office. However, in all the excitement over this film there is another superhero movie that debuted as well that deserves our attention as well…"Captain Underpants"! And, after having seen both films, I have to admit that I enjoyed watching "Captain Underpants" more because it is something few superhero movies are these days….it's fun! Please understand me…I am not saying it's necessarily better. However, it is a lot of fun and lighthearted…things you'd almost never associate with today's very dark superhero films…and reasons you might not want to take kids to see most of the pictures in this genre.

In order to enjoy the Captain Underpants movie it sure helps if you are a child…or if you are a bit childish. My daughters grew up reading the Captain Underpants books and Dav Pilkey's character certainly has been a hit among kids. Why do kids love Captain Underpants? Well, it's everything serious literature is not…it's filled with potty humor, bad jokes and silliness because Pilkey wrote and illustrated the books as if they were really created by mischievous children…the same George and Harold who are the stars of the film. And, having been a middle school teacher as well as a man who adamantly refuses to grow up, I had a wonderful time seeing it with my 22 year-old daughter…who also loved the movie.

The story begins with George and Harold being called into their very grouchy principal's office. As usual, they are up to no good and as usual the mirthless man is about to throw the book at the boys… sending them to separate classrooms…which is horrible since they are best friends. However, in desperation, George tries out his cheap hypno- ring he got in a cereal box and amazingly it works…turning the principal into the boys' slave. They decide to make him become Captain Underpants…the hero in the comic book the boys have created. And, like this character, the principal begins running around town fighting crime….in his underwear! Little do the boys realize that they'll need his help when the evil Professor Poopypants arrives with his latest weapon!

Okay…I'll admit this does not sound like Shakespeare or Jane Austin. You've got Professor Poopypants, comments about Uranus and fart jokes. But these are exactly what kids really love…and I heard lots of kids laughing throughout the movie. And, even though I am supposed to be sophisticated and above all this, I found myself laughing too.

I also appreciate how the Canadian team who made the film managed to capture the look, style and spirit of the Captain Underpants books. While the CGI is not the most complicated I've ever seen, it matches the characters perfectly…and even offers a cute added sock puppet show! Funny, well written and a lot of fun, this is NOT a good date night movie but a perfect film if you've got kids (young or even grown like mine) who grew up with Pilkey's creation. Not to be missed.

The plot follows 2 imaginative elementary school prankster students, George Beard and Harold Hutchins (Hart, Middleditch) who hypnotize their mean-spirited principal, Mr. Krupp (Helms), into thinking he is Captain Underpants, a hero in comic books George and Harold write together.

It is absolutely entertaining for adults and enchanting for all children who are looking for comedy and entertainment.

Captain Underpants is DreamWorks' computer-animated feature film and that is why it will be number 1 in most countries of the world.

When's the last Summer movie that made you embrace your inner twelve year-old? That's why I really liked "Captain Underpants". Even with the move to big-screen CGI, it's still just two best friends, their unwitting super hero principal, and the right amount of potty humor. Seriously, the big fight scene is with a giant toilet.

Maybe it comes down to circumstances. Had I not read a few of the books, not been a parent to a seven year-old fan who loves them (and the movie), things may not have clicked. But they did, and that's what's important.

It feels faithful to the source material, with a lively animation style and hopelessly juvenile dialogue. Not making a sequel to this would be an injustice.

7/10

*Minor Spoilers Ahead* George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch) are two elementary school kids that write and animate comic books in their tree house. Their favourite character is Captain Underpants and we get an introduction to his comic origin in the beginning. Moving back to George and Harold, their friendship is as close as it gets and they spend their days making these comics and pulling pranks on the faculty. To any adult looking in, they're a pain to deal with but they bring life to their dull and dreary environment. Principal Krupp (Ed Helms) definitely is in the camp that believes that these two are a menace and he makes it his goal to put an end to their shenanigans. He's unable to catch them in the act so he has to endure their constant misadventures until the school tattletale Milton (Jordan Peele) records them messing with his project for the science fair. Krupp sees this as the opportunity to move them into separate classes, effectively destroying their friendship. There's little hope but in an act of desperation, George tries to hypnotize Krupp using a Hypno-Ring that he found in his cereal. Against all the odds, it actually works and he falls under their command. They come up with the idea to turn him into Captain Underpants. It works but Krupp gallops out of the office to fight evil with George and Harold running behind him trying to get a handle on the situation.

I got a chance to read a few of the books when I was younger and while they're very much geared towards kids, the books were pretty funny and surprisingly creative. To my surprise, they change the story around a little but Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is very faithful to Dave Pilkey's work. The characters all have the same spirit, the message of the books carry over and perhaps most importantly, the movie shares the same adventurous sense of humour. I was laughing constantly in this movie despite being an adult and most of the kids in the theatre were laughing along with me. The movie has a very fast pace and the jokes are firing at a mile a minute clip. On the downside though, although I thought this was one of the funniest animated movies I've seen in a while, it is definitely more geared towards kids. There's a lot of potty humour and while they pay respect to the Captain Underpants books by including so much of it, there's only so many times you can laugh at Professor Poopypants as an adult. I was familiar with the material so I knew what to expect but to the uninitiated it might be a tad jarring. Some great kids movies include some jokes to tide the adults over, this movie has some meta humour but there's not as much as I would have liked.

While the plot of the movie is pretty simple and it's carried by the comedy, the animation is awesome. Dreamworks really did a great job of following the art style of the books but presenting a great looking movie. It reminded me a lot of the Peanuts Movie that was put out by Blue Sky Studio in 2015 (I mean that as a big compliment). It's hard to find a balance between calling back to the source yet compete in a crowded big budget animated movie market. Dreamworks normally deliver solid entertainment but I was pretty blown away by what they accomplished with this property.

Looking at the voice acting talent, you've got some big names filling these roles which is typical of Dreamworks. I wasn't sure that Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch would work given that their characters are supposed to be kids. But they were both really good and they both flawlessly delivered the jokes yet brought warmth to their characters. Ed Helms was impressive as Principal Krupp/Captain Underpants. I wouldn't have though he'd be a talented voice actor but he definitely got the job done. Nick Kroll is fresh off Sausage Party and after this I think he's definitely becoming an authority in this area. Jordan Peele and Kristen Schaal round out a solid voice cast and they were good in their supportive roles.

I think my favourite part of this movie was the fact that it wasn't afraid to be really weird. They don't just stick to conventional animation or conventional storytelling. We get portions of the story told through George and Harold's comics, sock puppets and regular puppets. They have different animation asides and they even incorporate one of my favourite parts of the books in something that was completely unexpected (I can't spoil what). They also have parts where they break 4th wall and explain things to the audience directly. I loved those aspects of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and it helped make things different and memorable.

This movie won't be everyone's favourite movie and I can completely understand that. This is going to work for kids and adults who remember these books but this movie also puts in way more effort than it had to. The movie even has a decent message of friendship and trying to look at issues from different sides. This isn't Dreamworks best movie (I would still give that to the original How to Train Your Dragon) but I would put among their best movies ever. If you're a fan of Captain Underpants you're going to love this and I think you'll get enough out of this that it won't be a pain to see this with the kids.

One of the least boring movies I've ever seen. With the un-cynical bigness of Jimmy Neutron & the meta tone of Rocky & Bullwinkle, it's a wonderfully buoyant big 'C' Cartoon about childish friendship & creativity. It relishes in joy & silliness, & even its gross-out humor feels sincere (it DOES have the word "Underpants" in the title). It has focused stakes, fantastically cartoony animation, LOL humor, & a strong (if predictable) message about the balance between fun & responsibility. Very few skid marks here.