Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
Reviews by Paul Preston
Welcome to Today I Watched…, a series of posts documenting my new challenge – watch a movie a day for the rest of my life. Keep coming back to TheMovieGuys.net to find out what I watch each day…and get my take on it.
When I see a movie that’s a new release in theaters or on demand, I’ll give it a proper review in the “Reviews” or “Home Viewing”, otherwise, I’ll write about it here.
July 4, 2017 – Alone
OK, I swear I’m not making this up, but in this Alone short film which seeks to “promote anti-violence”, there was someone walking down the street again! About a minute and a half in! They love that shit! Walking, head down, sluggish. Then they’re bullied. This short covers that story, as well as abuse between a boyfriend and girlfriend. This, like the previous Alone, although labeled a short film, is once again kids making a video. It starts out “Our Drama Club Presents…”, so you know what you’re in for. Clunky filmmaking with young kids giving it their best, but as far as real relationships and situations, not so much:
July 5, 2017 – Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
With all the railing against the noisy, dopey summer blockbusters as I’ve done, it took a goofy movie about underpants to stand out.
Director David Soren, longtime writer/director for DreamWorks Animation, made his feature debut as director with 2013’s Turbo. I enjoyed that film, more or less, it was basically an underdog’s journey with a hilarious spoof of YouTube in the middle of it (at least that was my favorite part). At a budget of $135 Million, Turbo earned just over two times its budget. With Captain Underpants, Soren returns with a budget $100 Million less ($38M) and delivers a movie twice as entertaining.
The $100M budget slice doesn’t show as Captain Underpants is a wildly dynamic and expressive animated movie. Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch voice George and Harold, two best friends who love pranking EVERYONE, but they’ve stirred up the ire of their principal, Mr. Krupp. After one prank that upends the school’s Invention Convention, Krupp separates these best friends into different classes. This causes George to hypnotize Krupp into becoming Captain Underpants, a silly character the boys have made up in comics they’ve written. Then chaos ensues as Captain Underpants does battle with an evil scientist who wants to take over the city.
Inside all this is a subversive message about school and authority figures. George and Harold are best buds and they’ll be damned if anyone’s going to change that. But while that message exists, the movie doesn’t forget to be silly, boisterous and clever (there’s a sock puppet sequence used to denote a flashback that is especially inspired).
With a title like Captain Underpants, you’d think the film would revel in low-brow humor. Not so. Instead, this film champions friendship and energetic playfulness. It also doesn’t hurt to have Kevin Hart, who himself is a cartoon, voice your cartoon. As George, he talks a mile-a-minute and the character often talks to the audience and Hart makes a good personality to chum up with for the ride.
I wasn’t too surprised to see a big name behind this laugh-filled script, and sure enough it’s Nicholas Stoller, director of Neighbors. The writer of Neighbors made The House, and Captain Underpants beats The House for volume of jokes by a landslide. Fast, funny and with a wink to adults, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie is a blast.
Directed by: David Soren
Release Date: June 2, 2017
Run Time: 89 Minutes
Rated: PG
Country: USA
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
