If there's one series that every kid growing up has heard of at some point in their lives, it would be Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants". Despite the immaturity and potty-centric humour, the series is beloved for its loveable characters, clever humour, charming stories, and how Pilkey is aware how his fans get older with time, which allows his older books to be more complex, funnier and even adult at times. I remember as a kid that a move based on the series was in development and I couldn't wait to see it. Well, it came out by the time I was a senior in high school, but I still took interest in such a nostalgic property and although it's not one of Dreamwork's biggest hits in recent years, it's still a very memorable one. George and Harold are a couple of fourth-graders who are best pals. They mainly get along by their love for pranks and creating comic-books, especially those that star the made-up Captain Underpants. After their latest and biggest prank, Principal Krupp has had enough and is forcibly switching their classrooms in the hopes to destroy their friendship. By a bizarre circumstance involving a hypto-ring, the boys manage to hypnotize the mean principal and make him believe that he is Captain Underpants. This proves to be a big mistake as not only is the hero extremely dumb and is prone to trouble, but a mad scientist has just moved into town and hopes to erase laughter from the world, to which George, Harold, and Underpants must stop. The story takes a lot of elements from the first four books. From the origin of Captain Underpants in book one, the science competition, Turbo Toilet and school nerd/secondary antagonist Melvin in book two, Underpants getting his superpowers in book three, to Professor Poopypants being the main villain from book four, the movie takes all of the most noteworthy elements from these first few books and combines them into a familiar, but somewhat original story that doesn't require any of said books to be read. The film is very much light-hearted and any stakes or drama inserted is not really meant to be extremely gripping, but effective in its own silly and charming way. Not only that, but the humour is ripped straight out of the source material. From the fourth-wall breaking, the adult jokes, the absurd situations, and of course, the toilet humour, is all represented. This can be a bit of a problem though as some of the jokes, mainly the toilet humour, can be pretty cringe. However, not only is the film aware of this and does try to offer a more grown-up joke to balance it out, but the more intellectual or dark humour sprinkled throughout is really good. Any age group can find at least five jokes that worked for them in my opinion and it's thanks to the witty script that almost feels as if Pilkey himself wrote.
The voice acting cast is one of the most weirdest, but most effective I have ever seen or heard in an animated film. Starting with Mr. Krupp/Captain Underpants, Ed Helms is just fantastic in his vocal performance. Krupp is the stern, mean, somewhat awkward principal, while Underpants is the complete opposite with an optimistic point of view, dimwitted, goofy sense of justice. Helms's voice suits both personalities and it's his voice that I imagined how the character would sound. Nick Kroll as Professor Poopypants is also an inspired choice as the European mad scientist who, despite his brilliant mind, can't learn to ever laugh at himself. At times, it does sound like the typical performance Kroll is always pointed out for in his animated movies, but it's definitely my favourite vocal performance of his. Kristen Schaal as Edith, the school lunch lady who is an original character for the movie and Mr. Krupp's love interest is also a warm presence to grace the film. Despite all of this praise to these voice actors, it's the actors playing the kid characters that are the most noteworthy. If someone would've told me that grown men such as Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, and Jordan Peele were voicing George, Harold, and Melvin, I wouldn't have believed them. But, wow, these guys are just killing it as these characters. They don't sound like little kids per se, but they got the personality of them so perfectly. Personally, I would have had real kids voice-act as kid characters, but the fact that the filmmakers manage to not only get these big actors, but for them to also put their effort in having a high pitch to sound like these characters is just a sheer level of dedication for both the actors and the filmmakers. Aside from them, there's not much to note for the side characters as the other school staff, teachers, and students are not really given much screen-time or dialogue for that matter. It's the main cast of characters and actors that are the stars of their own movie, who not only does each one knock it out of the park, but Hart, Middleditch and Peele need to pat themselves on the back for their performances.
The animation was provided by Mikros Images and they are the king when it comes to making these 2.5D animated films. Not only does the animation carry the classic character designs and art style from the books and presents them in pleasant-looking three dimensions, but the animation itself is just vibrant and colourful. For a very modest budget in the animated industry, the animators manage to put so much detail in the materials of the hair, clothing, and various objects. Although the character designs have a simplified approach with the beady black eyes and a lot of smoothness on the skin, it's meant to be like that not only for the budget, but to homage the books. What's so endearing of the animation though is the range of variety and the clever use of said variety in order to keep a low budget. Not only do you have the CG animation, but you also have hand-drawn sequences where the homemade comics come to life, a brief scene with animated paper cutouts, and even a scene with sock puppets! However, one can tell that this film has a limited budget due to the lack of interesting or engaging backgrounds, which gives the picture that the world the animators created is very limited in scope and feel. While this might not be the best animation that Dreamworks is known for, it's clearly one of the most inventive and unique to say the least. The music by Theodore Shapiro is decent for a typical family film, though it's really geared towards the younger demographic, especially for the songs the boys will sing or participate in from time to time. Still, it's kind of charming in its own way and even the original composing is not that bad. The highlight in the musical department though is "Weird Al" Yankovic singing the theme song for Captain Underpants. Not only is it again paying homage to the books where Yankovic's music is always mentioned, but it's a nice song to match the movie. Director David Soren might have started his directorial work with a trip with "Turbo", but he got himself together and even exceeded everyone's expectations with his efforts on bringing the beloved characters to animated life. Here's hoping he can direct another animated project soon!
"Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie" is probably my favourite Dreamworks film of the 2010's. From the story taking a lot of elements from the source material while being somewhat fresh, the tone being unapologetically over-the-top and silly, the humour having a lot of range of jokes targeted towards kids and adults, the characters being very likeable and expressive thanks to the talented voice cast that were brought on, the animation being both really polished while keeping in nature to Pilkey's character designs, and the score and songs by Shapiro and Yankovic are not only decent, but very appropriate for the source material. Despite all of this, I'm quite aware that it's not for everyone and it's not going to rank anywhere near the best the studio has put out. The direction of the tone is not going to be breaking your heart or give you a emotional journey unlike other animated films, the film's obsession of toilet humour might be too much for certain people, and the animation might come across as cheap at certain areas, mainly when it comes to the backgrounds and world-building. Then again, it's clearly meant to skip those points, especially for a film based on this specific franchise. If you were ever a fan or even aware of the books when you were a kid, you might be pleasantly surprised by how entertaining and well-put together the film is. Of all of the films Dreamworks is scrambling to make sequels for, I'm surprised they never considered to make one for this.
Verdict: 8/10. A great family film that Dreamworks should be proud of owning. If you just want to watch something fun and goofy or got kids around, this is a must-see!
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