Now, I know what some of you might be thinking; why the heck am I reviewing a film called Captain Underpants? Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t that ridiculous to me, and that’s because, like many kids of my generation, I grew up with this film’s source material. Yes, what we have here is a film that’s based off a popular book series of the same name by author Dav Pilkey. The Adventures of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Novel, a story about a pair of elementary school students who unintentionally turn their principal into a superhero, was first published in 1997 and was a major best-seller. It would ultimately go on to spawn a full-blown series, with the most recent (and final) entry, book #12, released back in 2015. At the same time, though, the books have often been banned in school libraries due to their [admittedly] juvenile humor. Still, they’ve been a big hit with their target audience, having sold over 70 million copies worldwide. And now, the famous superhero who’s ‘faster than a speeding waistband, more powerful than boxer shorts, and able to leap tall buildings without getting a wedgie’ stars in his own feature film; Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. This new film comes courtesy of DreamWorks Animation and is notably their last feature film released through their current distributor, 20th Century Fox, before they begin their new partnership with Universal in 2019. And as surprising as it may seem, this adaptation of a book series about a principal who turns into an underwear-themed superhero every time someone snaps their fingers and is only reverted to normal when doused with water… is one of the most faithful book-to-film adaptations in recent memory.
Like the books that they’re based on, the film follows the adventures of fourth graders George Beard (Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins (Thomas Middleditch). These two best friends spend most of their time creating their own comics and causing all sorts of pranks at their elementary school, Jerome Horwitz Elementary, to provide their classmates with a temporary reprieve from the grim goings-on that occur there daily. However, this soon ends up attracting the attention of their mean principal, Mr. Krupp (Ed Helms), who threatens to put the two boys in separate classrooms if they get caught again. To prevent this from happening, George and Harold try to hypnotize him with a ‘3-D Hypno-Ring’ that George got from a cereal box. To their surprise, the ring does indeed work, allowing them to make Mr. Krupp do whatever they want. This culminates in them commanding Mr. Krupp to act like the main protagonist from their comics, Captain Underpants, a superhero who literally only wears his underpants along with a red cape. However, this joke soon turns into a serious dilemma when Mr. Krupp begins to go around the city acting like a superhero… even though he doesn’t have any real superpowers. As such, this forces George and Harold to keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t hurt himself. And things get even more complicated when a scientist named Professor Poopypants (Nick Kroll; and yes, that’s his name, Professor Poopypants) comes to town intent on ridding humanity of the part of the brain that causes them to laugh as revenge for the years of ridicule that’s he endured over his ridiculous name.
Even though it’s been a while since I’ve read these books (I stopped reading them during the time when the series was on a temporary hiatus due to author Dav Pilkey taking time off to care for his father, who died in 2008), I found this film to be a highly faithful adaptation of its source material. The plot is, basically, a combination of elements from various installments. In other words, while the main plot generally follows the same structure of the first book, the film’s main villain, Professor Poopypants, first debuted in the fourth book, Captain Underpants and The Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants, the evil sentient toilets from the second book, Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets, make an appearance, and there are several Easter eggs throughout that tie into various other entries of the series. Ultimately, though, the film does a fantastic job of capturing the overall feel and tone of the books. It never takes itself too seriously and it maintains the same general style of self-aware humor. Heck, they even managed to incorporate the iconic ‘Flip-O-Rama’ sections from the books, in which readers flipped pages back and forth to simulate action scenes, into the narrative. On that note, the screenplay by Nicholas Stoller is full of hilarious bits of dialogue. I mean, admittedly, I wouldn’t say that this film is an absolute comedic riot. And, yes, the humor is often just as juvenile as it was in the books so it won’t go over well with everyone. Still, there are plenty of great jokes as well as some hilarious visual gags throughout that satirize the superhero genre. At the same time, there’s also some surprisingly heartfelt moments in this as well, namely through the friendship of the main characters.
Unlike most DreamWorks Animation films, this film’s animation was handled by a different studio, Mikros Image. This allowed the film to have a cheaper budget compared to DreamWorks’ other projects in the wake of some of their more recent efforts underperforming at the box-office. And, overall, the animation in this film is solid. It’s very reminiscent of what Blue Sky Studios did on The Peanuts Movie, managing to establish a 2-Dish feel in this computer animated film. And just like The Peanuts Movie, this is a great way to pay homage to the original source material as, in this instance, it feels like a comic book coming to life. Heck, they even have a whole sequence done with sock puppets. As for the voice cast, the film assembles a solid group of voices to fit each role. It may seem a bit weird at first to hear famous voices like Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch portraying fourth graders, but they both do excellent jobs in the roles of George and Harold, respectively. But perhaps most importantly, the two have phenomenal camaraderie, doing justice to the friendship of these two classic characters which, as mentioned earlier, is ultimately the heart of the film. Meanwhile, Ed Helms is a nice pick for the dual role of Mr. Krupp AKA Captain Underpants. He provides the right amount of diabolicalness for when Krupp’s his normal self but then switches seamlessly into a charismatic persona when he’s the friendly but admittedly dimwitted superhero, Captain Underpants. And, finally, Nick Kroll gets some great bits of humor as well in the role of the main villain Professor Poopypants, mainly due to the exact reason that you’re thinking about (i.e. his name). I mean, between this and Sausage Party, Kroll does quite a great job when it comes to animated villain roles.
I cannot believe that I’m saying this but… Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is one of the most satisfying adaptations that I’ve ever seen. I mean, let’s face it, you don’t often get a film like this that is THIS faithful to the source material. And yet this film very much succeeds in capturing the spirit of the Captain Underpants books, right down to the implementation of their iconic running gags like ‘Flip-O-Rama’. Seriously, even though it’s been years since I’ve read these books, watching this film legitimately made me feel like a kid again, reading through these books and going on these wacky adventures with George and Harold. But, aside from that, the film’s just a fun superhero adventure through and through. The animation’s nice and colorful, excellently representing the visual style of the books, and the screenplay by Nicholas Stoller is full to the brim with great humor. At the same time, though, there’s also some unexpectedly heartfelt moments in this as well, primarily through the great friendship of George and Harold. Ultimately, it’s just a great feel-good film that celebrates imagination through the crazy antics that George, Harold, and Captain Underpants get into. Thus, to make a long story short (See what I did there? It’s a nod to the books, which always had one chapter that tied up all loose ends in just one sentence, hence why they’re always titled ‘To Make a Long Story Short…”), who would’ve guessed that an adaptation of a book series that has, no joke, been around for two whole decades now (Feel old yet?) would turn out this good?
Rating: This may seem crazy, but… 5/5!
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