Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie Review
Captain Underpants features the voice talents of Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll, and Jordan Peele.
Though you shouldn't worry about it, here's the Kids-In-Mind review for the film. There's a few potty jokes as predicted, but other than that, there's nothing to worry about. This film is great for all kids. I would guess that children four and under wouldn't be entertained that much, but you'd have to give it a shot to find out. I took my five year-old brother and he had a blast with how funny and heartfelt it was.
Adults may like it too. There was one who kept laughing at the jokes so there's a possibility that adults may find some entertainment out of this film.
"Why See It?"
After seeing Captain Underpants, a lot of people asked me why I saw a film about a grown man who goes around preforming heroic acts in his underwear. While I'd admit that it's not the most conventional premise to make a film about, I saw this film because I was a fan of the books. When I was six through nine, I read the Captain Underpants novels. They were something I read before I got into the big novels like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc. Like the two main characters, I got a kick out of reading all of the outlandish stories and following the characters through said story.
I didn't have high hopes on the film. I figured that it'd be an unsuccessful attempt to make money, but the fact that it was being made by the same studio that helmed Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Megamind, another superhero film made by the same studio, gave me hope that it'd be okay. Not only was it okay, but it was good. It had exactly what I wanted to see in a Captain Underpants film. Many times throughout, I felt that I was watching the novels come to life, which is why I enjoyed this film as much as I did.
George and Harold
These two were a great duo. I didn't think that choosing adult actors to play kids in elementary school would be the best course of action, but it worked to great effect. Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch made for a hilarious duo. They cracked a lot jokes and constantly made me laugh. Their humor was that good.
One of their ways of making you laugh involved a lot of meta jokes. This movie is very meta. Not necessarily meta as in referencing other movies, although there are a few, but there's a lot of fourth-wall breaking, going through different forms of film, and one other thing that I'll let you find out for yourself. One things for certain, prepare to laugh.
Their friendship was well-done. Even for people that haven't read any of the novels will grow to care about the duo as a whole. There were many times where they'd almost make you cry. It didn't work for me, because some of their "horrible" consequences would always end in laughter. I didn't like a few of their actions. They made them a tad bit annoying and a small burden on the film. There were times where I agreed with Principal Krupp about his solutions, though I think his solutions were too extreme.
One of their ways of making you laugh involved a lot of meta jokes. This movie is very meta. Not necessarily meta as in referencing other movies, although there are a few, but there's a lot of fourth-wall breaking, going through different forms of film, and one other thing that I'll let you find out for yourself. One things for certain, prepare to laugh.
Their friendship was well-done. Even for people that haven't read any of the novels will grow to care about the duo as a whole. There were many times where they'd almost make you cry. It didn't work for me, because some of their "horrible" consequences would always end in laughter. I didn't like a few of their actions. They made them a tad bit annoying and a small burden on the film. There were times where I agreed with Principal Krupp about his solutions, though I think his solutions were too extreme.
Principal Krupp/Captain Underpants
Speaking of the principal, we have him along with his alter ego, Captain Underpants. Dreamworks got everything right with him. From the casting of Ed Helms, to the guy's dimwitted attitude, there was nothing that Dreamworks failed at when translating the character from the page to screen.
I haven't seen many films with Ed Helms in it, but he nailed the role. The voicework with his character was pretty impressive. Both sides of the character were hilarious and heart-warming in their own ways.
One of my favorite things about both sides of the character is how George and Harold would abruptly change Krupp to Captain Underpants only for the Captain to unknowingly change himself back to Krupp. That, and when the duo first discovered how to turn the Captain back into Krupp, they kept on switching the two personalities back and forth for laughs. It was well done and got quite a few laughs out of me, my siblings, and the overall audience.
I could've used a bit more Krupp. I don't think Krupp had a lot of great defining moments. There were about one or two, but because those were so good, I would've liked to see a few more. That said, Krupp was great. I wouldn't want that guy to be my principal, but I enjoyed watching him act so mischievous and being intentionally hilarious.
The same thing goes for his delusional alter ego, Captain Underpants. He was just as fun as his cranky counterpart and even better because unlike Krupp, Captain Underpants was always cheerful and not maniacal. His power sets were odd, yet impressive. I don't recall him having the ability of having unlimited underwear, but I didn't find the change to get in the way of the character or any other aspects from the source material. Though I wouldn't have thought of it, it was a welcome change.
One of my favorite things about both sides of the character is how George and Harold would abruptly change Krupp to Captain Underpants only for the Captain to unknowingly change himself back to Krupp. That, and when the duo first discovered how to turn the Captain back into Krupp, they kept on switching the two personalities back and forth for laughs. It was well done and got quite a few laughs out of me, my siblings, and the overall audience.
I could've used a bit more Krupp. I don't think Krupp had a lot of great defining moments. There were about one or two, but because those were so good, I would've liked to see a few more. That said, Krupp was great. I wouldn't want that guy to be my principal, but I enjoyed watching him act so mischievous and being intentionally hilarious.
The same thing goes for his delusional alter ego, Captain Underpants. He was just as fun as his cranky counterpart and even better because unlike Krupp, Captain Underpants was always cheerful and not maniacal. His power sets were odd, yet impressive. I don't recall him having the ability of having unlimited underwear, but I didn't find the change to get in the way of the character or any other aspects from the source material. Though I wouldn't have thought of it, it was a welcome change.
Professor P and Melvin
Then there's film's villains. Every good superhero movie has its villain and Captain Underpants has two of them.
Here's the thing. If you're into poop jokes and nonsensical names, you'll like... Professor Poopypants. Yup, that's the villains name. However, I'm not a fan of poop jokes and nonsensical names, but I still enjoyed it. They weren't overbearing. Once the joke was done, they didn't dwell or revisit it. One thing about the character that did get tiring is how he was very upfront about him being a villain. When that was first introduced, it was funny, but they kept using it to the point where it was no longer funny.
Even though he was pretty faithful to the novel, I didn't like Nick Kroll as the character. His voice was too squeaky which made him hard to hear. Beyond that, he wasn't as fun as I hoped he'd be. He wasn't very entertaining and neither was his partner-in-crime, Melvin.
Jordan Peele, hot of the success of his horror film Get Out, voices the sneedly character. Get it? This character is literally one big joke. Though he is a part of the book, he really didn't have any purpose in the film other than that reason. In the book, he's more of a main character, but in the film, he barely registers as a presence in the film. I think it would've been better to save him for a sequel, though I don't this will get a sequel considering the distribution change.
This isn't my longest review, but like it's runtime, I think I kept it short and to the point. The runtime was great. It's eighty-nine minutes long and when many films these days feel unnecessarily long, it was great to see a film that didn't overstay its welcome. It had its fair share of problems, but as a fan of the books, I think Dreamworks really got it to as close as a great adaption as can be. 20th Century Fox should feel good on how they concluded their deal with Dreamworks even though they're not receiving a ton of success for the film. On the bright side, the animation studio is now two-for-two when it comes to superhero flicks that nobody saw. Which brings me to...
I believe that even though this a good film, I don't think that its necessary to see in theaters. Only fans of the series should see it in theaters and the people who aren't should at least check it out when it eventually comes to DVD, Bluray, or i-Tunes. For those of you who are seeing it in theaters, I don't believe the 3D is worth the money. I didn't see it in 3D, but I still had a fun time and it didn't seem like the 3D would have much to offer.
So that's my review of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. What did you think of the film if you saw it and if you did, what did you think of my review? If you haven't seen it yet, do you plan too? Let me know in the comments section below, share this with your friends, and feel free to suggest some films you want me to review. Thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.
Here's the thing. If you're into poop jokes and nonsensical names, you'll like... Professor Poopypants. Yup, that's the villains name. However, I'm not a fan of poop jokes and nonsensical names, but I still enjoyed it. They weren't overbearing. Once the joke was done, they didn't dwell or revisit it. One thing about the character that did get tiring is how he was very upfront about him being a villain. When that was first introduced, it was funny, but they kept using it to the point where it was no longer funny.
Even though he was pretty faithful to the novel, I didn't like Nick Kroll as the character. His voice was too squeaky which made him hard to hear. Beyond that, he wasn't as fun as I hoped he'd be. He wasn't very entertaining and neither was his partner-in-crime, Melvin.
Jordan Peele, hot of the success of his horror film Get Out, voices the sneedly character. Get it? This character is literally one big joke. Though he is a part of the book, he really didn't have any purpose in the film other than that reason. In the book, he's more of a main character, but in the film, he barely registers as a presence in the film. I think it would've been better to save him for a sequel, though I don't this will get a sequel considering the distribution change.
Grade: B
This isn't my longest review, but like it's runtime, I think I kept it short and to the point. The runtime was great. It's eighty-nine minutes long and when many films these days feel unnecessarily long, it was great to see a film that didn't overstay its welcome. It had its fair share of problems, but as a fan of the books, I think Dreamworks really got it to as close as a great adaption as can be. 20th Century Fox should feel good on how they concluded their deal with Dreamworks even though they're not receiving a ton of success for the film. On the bright side, the animation studio is now two-for-two when it comes to superhero flicks that nobody saw. Which brings me to...
I believe that even though this a good film, I don't think that its necessary to see in theaters. Only fans of the series should see it in theaters and the people who aren't should at least check it out when it eventually comes to DVD, Bluray, or i-Tunes. For those of you who are seeing it in theaters, I don't believe the 3D is worth the money. I didn't see it in 3D, but I still had a fun time and it didn't seem like the 3D would have much to offer.
So that's my review of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. What did you think of the film if you saw it and if you did, what did you think of my review? If you haven't seen it yet, do you plan too? Let me know in the comments section below, share this with your friends, and feel free to suggest some films you want me to review. Thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.
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