Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

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

Captain Underpants is Dreamworks's latest animated feature based on the book series by Dav Pilkey. It's about two elementary school boys named George Beard and Harold Hutchins who are the school's pranksters. They make comics in their treehouse called Captain Underpants and have to deal with an incredibly unpleasant principal named Mr. Krupp. However, one day when they got into major trouble, George uses a hypnotizing ring to turn Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants.

Dreamworks hasn't necessarily been doing very well at the box office or with critics for the last few years. When I went to this movie, I was optimistic, mainly because I knew the source material very well since I read the Captain Underpants books. It turns out that I was right for going in with an optimistic attitude. This is Dreamworks's best stand-alone in a good while. They picked out a book/book franchise that is somewhat well-known instead of something completely out of nowhere like Smekday or The Boss Baby, which really helps bring in attention to said movie. The movie knows its source material really well with the ins and outs. It knows what it is and it even pokes fun at some of the inner workings of the movie. I'm aware that this is only an adaptation and there's a limit to how far you can go and from what we got, they did a decent job at it. The animation looks like a 3D version of something that you would see in the books, and just that is enough for me to like the style that the movie was going for.

Despite the fact that I think that this is one of Dreamworks's best in a while, it does have some flaws here and there. First off, the pacing makes the movie feel like it's going too fast at times. The movie only seems to have times where you can sink in the moment occasionally, but not very often. Since the movie does carry the spirit of the books, it also carries the humor, which I personally didn't laugh at many of the jokes, which may turn people off from watching the movie. A lot of the humor is derived from toilet humor and as well as it works for this movie in particular, it may drive audiences away. I'm also not a huge fan of the voice casting in this, mostly with the children. You would normally expect kids to sound like kids, but in this movie, the kids sound more like adults and it's really bothersome. Normally if adults are doing child voices, they would pitch up their voices, but here, Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleton and Jordan Peele use their regular voices and it's just distracting.

While this movie might not be for everyone, it can be classified as Dreamworks's best movie in a while that's not a sequel. If you're a huge fan of the books, I recommend checking out this movie!

8/10

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.

So, pretty funny and pretty imaginative, I must say.

The animation turned out to be really cool. I like how they went back and forth form the 3D animation to the 2D animation. They even had some sock puppetry. The blend shows the creativity of the child's mind, greatly.

Kevin Hart has the perfect voice for cartoons especially to play little boys.

He plays a kid named George who with his best friend Harold create a comic book called Captain underpants, and when their principal threatens to end their collaboration and with it the future of their friendship by separating them due to all their pranking, so they hypnotizing him into believing he's the character they created.

It's a very wonderful exciting movie to watch. Very funny with great animation.

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.