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Plot Summary: Two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold, hypnotize their principal into thinking he's a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.

Director: David Soren

Writer: Nicholas Stoller

Runtime: 1h 29min

Main Cast:

• Kevin Hart as George (voice)
• Ed Helms as Captain Underpants / Mr. Krupp (voice)
• Nick Kroll as Professor Poopypants (voice)
• Thomas Middleditch as Harold (voice)
• Jordan Peele as Melvin (voice)
• Kristen Schaal as Edith (voice)

Review: by Marie

First off parents need to know that Captain Underpants is based on the first book in Dav Pilkey's popular series about a nearly naked superhero. I remember my brother and his friends always reading these books and my mother hated the thought of a grown man gallivanting around in nothing but his underwear and a cape. However, when my son and I saw the preview on TV we both just had to see it. For me, it was because Kevin Hart was voicing one of the characters and for my son, it was that it looked funny.

4th Graders George Beard (Kevin Hart) and Harold Hutchins (Thomas Middleditch) hypnotize their mean school principal and turn him into their creation; Captain Underpants aka Principal Krupp (Ed Helms). These two overly imaginative pranksters, hypnotize the principal into thinking he’s a ridiculously enthusiastic, dimwitted superhero from a comic that George and Harold wrote together. They sell these comics to their schoolmates through their comic company called Treehouse Comix Inc, which is housed within their very own treehouse. George and Harold’s pranks come to an end after they tamper with a toilet invention made by the schools snitch, Melvin Sneedly (Jordan Peele). This causes the principal to separate George and Harold in the hopes to end their friendship. George then ends up hypnotizing Krupp with a 3D Hypno-Ring from a cereal box. The boys then see the resemblance between Krupp and Captain Underpants without his toupee thus commanding the hypnotized principal into becoming Captain Underpants.

What I Liked:

The best thing about this movie is how faithful it stays to its source material. It is rightfully ridiculous and will have you laughing your butt off at its absurdity. This movie is a high sugar rush from beginning to end, and it works. With something like Captain Underpants, you have to maintain the books fast pace and frantic randomness. These books were meant for kids and nobody else which I love.

What I Didn’t Like:

Unfortunately, the movie does have some slight problems. The film suffers when character-hyperactivity replaces some of the actual story. This is most evident with the movie’s supervillain (voiced by Nick Kroll), who bounces all over the screen like a bunny. Current kids movies are played by these over-the-top characters, which I assume are supposed to be funny. As annoying as that can get, it will do little to dampen a kids enthusiasm.

Images Courtesy of IMDB