Year: 2017
Director: David Soren
Country: US
Language: English
When I was in my pre-teens I came upon a weird children's book series by American author Dav Pilkey. It featured a superhero in underwear and had titles such as Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman, Plight of the Purple Potty People and Attack of the Talking Toilets. Few books were steeped in such low-brow humour and thus reading them became a treat. In 2017 a movie adaptation was released and had decent commercial and critical success.
Two overly imaginative pranksters named George (Kevin Hart) and Harold (Thomas Middleditch) hypnotize their principal (Ed Helms) into thinking he's a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.
I went into this movie with very low expectations considering the trailer looked horrendous and Kevin Hart, an actor whom I despise, was given a lead role. After watching Captain Underpants I must admit that my initial fears have been vanquished; this film is a fairly faithful adaptation to the series I loved as a child. Its animation holds the same tone, atmosphere and energy as its source material. The material onscreen surpasses expectations by being relentlessly weird.
Though steeped in low-brow humour, Captain Underpants never looses its charm and remains embroiled in its main theme about brotherhood. You can't help but feel greatly for George and Harold, even if the person harassing them is a teeny German named Professor Poopypants. Has Cinema ever seen such an absurd villain? The giant radioactive toilet is certainly a monster Universal has never picked up.
As suggested with the ending, and with the title (the FIRST movie), there is likely going to be a sequel to this movie...and you know what? I don't mind! I'd love to see another Captain Underpants movie because this was very well made. Its unique strangeness certainly ought to turn heads no matter what age.
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