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Movie Review - Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
High-octane laughs and action in this animated extension of popular kids' book series; adults welcome, as well
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie **** (out of 5) (PG) This animated comic adventure is based on a series of books about the superhero fantasies of two fourth-graders, mostly at the expense of their rotund, sourpuss principal. We can’t be sure if the part of the title after the colon was intended to mean that all other epics pale by comparison to this opus; or if it’s the first of several “epics” to come from these written tales. I assume the latter, and will welcome further adventures, based on the first-rate humor, energy and pace of this debut.
George and Harold (respectively voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) are good-natured pranksters, obsessed with creating comic books - especially in the sci-fi and action realms. George dreams up the stories; Harold handles the drawings that bring them to life - at least on paper. The eponymous character is neither of the lads. He’s their vision of the principal (voiced by Ed Helms), which actually occurs by a suitably weird development, albeit without the character’s powers, or the principal retaining memory of those episodes. One need not read the books to get into the swing of the flick. The script includes comic elements that collectively reach all ages effectively.
The lads introduce their hero with a Superman-adjacent origin story. Beyond that, plot details don’t make a lot of difference. It’s Captain Underpants vs. Professor Poopypants. ‘Nuff said.
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The most impressive facet of the production is how nicely it maintains a frenetic pace of action and dialog without any soft spots. Any fat that may have existed was trimmed into a lean, mean movie machine. That logical step has been surprisingly rare in the past few years, spanning all genres.
The artwork is unique, making merchandising a likely treasure trove, and helping spur the string of sequels that seem inevitable, and worth anticipating. Other notable voice contributions come from Kristin Schaal, Nick Kroll, Brian Posehn, and Jordan Peele. They knew a good script when they saw it. ( 6/2/17)